Voyage of the Faal Tiris
by C208 Driver
Summary: A Hiigaran exploration carrier uses a Progenitor gate that transports them to the Mass Effect galaxy. This is 32 years after the Eye of Arran was opened and ships are sent to explore the network. On the Mass Effect side, it is 14 years after Shepard destroys the Reapers and perishes in the process. On a note, had to bump it up to M due to the language in chapter 6.
1. Chapter 1

Voyage of the Faal Tiris

Chapter 1

Deep inside the Pylos Nebula far too deep for any scanners to pick up, sat a massive structure, a foreign one. This massive ring structure was left by a species long forgotten, built as a way to come back home and yet it was never used as they faded from memory. Yet others had discovered it, on the other end of what was in essence a pathway connecting galaxies separated by unfathomable distance. This ring was nearly twice the size of the Citadel base ring and had remained dormant for all this time, yet in one moment that all changed.

Without warning or fanfare the interior ring became illuminated as the outside emitters powered it an slowly began to turn. Moments later a vessel snapped into view through the ring, the vessel looked badly damaged with fires burning on several points on the hull. This elongated vessel had bluish hull paint interspersed with white and yellow and a symbol of a large circle with a smaller circle above it flanked with wings.

"Damage report!" Came the bark of the captain on the bridge.

"Hyperspace core decelerators were not able to compensate for such a long jump at those speeds. Bulkheads S-14, 17, 35 and 44 report heavy stress fractures, we have seven compartments venting atmosphere. Casualties are nonexistent, with a few serious injuries." The young officer reported to the older captain.

"How about the core itself and propulsion?" The captain enquired.

"Offline, we had a buckle in the port venting baffles and engineering was forced to shut down the fusion plants." The officer continued. "We are running on the backup reactor at this time."

The captain rubbed the bridge of his nose and looked again at the junior officer. "How about the launch bays?"

"Stand by." The officer said and then came back a few minutes later. "Looks like the fighter bay is the only one online. The damaged bulkheads sealed the blast doors to the gunship hangar and the frigate bay reports a malfunction of the docking clamps preventing flak frigate release." The young officer said, returning to his console.

"Very well, I want you to get on the horn with strike group leader Manaan. Have him deploy a scout squadron and get the assembler arrays to churn out some proximity sensors. I want those sensors in a standard observation grid." The captain said as he was in a very precarious spot his carrier was virtually defenceless and crippled at the very least he wanted to see the enemy coming. The positive side of this debacle was that the Progenitor gate seemed to be stationed inside a dense nebula which would mask them from sensors given what the nebula was doing to their own tactical overlay.

"I'll be in my quarters, watch officer Nala Somtaaw has the bridge." The captain said, leaving the large bridge of the ship. He needed to clear his head.

* * *

Talkas Somtaaw walked across the deck of the massive fighter bay, most of the interceptors and bombers were tucked neatly into their bays. Their relatively small mass afforded them not to have taken the damage that the gunships and frigates took when the carrier decelerated much too quickly. He took a moment to thank Sajuuk for giving the scientists of Kiith S'jet the knowledge to understand basic Progenitor metallurgy. Those designs into this carrier's superstructure most likely saved their lives. Had this ship been the older mark three carriers from the Vaygr war, the ship would have broken in half and with no control inputs to the reactors their ship would have become a funeral pyre.

Yet this was not time to dwell on what could have happened as he had a job to do. Talkas stared at his Scout VII with admiration thinking of how great it would be putting the latest design from the Naabal shipyards to good use. While most pilots of his skill and experience willingly took postings onto the heavier interceptors and bombers or even the gunships this was not what Talkas wanted. He loved the adrenaline rush that could only be felt in flying a scout in the midst of a heavy fleet engagement where there was no room for error. Even the slightest lapse in judgement would spell the end of him and some replacement taking his position as Kiitum One.

As he strapped himself into his scout he listened to the chatter of the two others. "I'm not sayin' that command was trying to screw us, it just seems odd that you would send a single carrier through the gate when all other exploration teams consisted of entire task forces." The female voice of Kira 'sparks' Soban chirped over the comms.

"Makes sense to me sparks, Karan knew that this gate was much farther out than the others and didn't want to risk more ships in case of catastrophe." The reply was from the much more balanced one of the pair Jona 'radar' LiirHra.

"Yeah and look how that turned out. We have our asses hanging out for the first Imperialist battle group or Vaygr crusade to take as a war prize." Sparks retorted.

"Come on, we both know that if any other ship went with us they would have been torn apart by the deceleration shock." Radar said, trying to calm the young pilot.

"I hate to break up a lover's feud, but we have a sector to patrol. Kittumi, get your talons out." Talkas said as he powered up his scout and opened up his comms with launch control.

"Control this is Kittum Team, we are powered up and ready for launch." Talkas said as he waited for the rush.

"Cleared for launch Kittum Team. Good luck." The reply came.

Luck. Talkas didn't need luck, his fighter could vastly outrun even the fastest survey scouts of the Vaygr fleets. With that, he punched the throttle and felt his ship accelerate out the launch bay. The power almost caught him off guard as he was forced to bring it back slightly in order to maintain stability.

"I think Iron's reflexes are getting slow in his old age." Came the voice of sparks over the radio.

"When I want the opinion of a Sobani comedian, you'll be the first to know Sparks." Talkas said over the radio, continuing with the banter.

"Hey Radar, I think he's getting a little surly. Maybe the retirement home is getting to him." Sparks continued.

"I don't think you'll like the taste." Radar said in reply.

"Huh?" Sparks said.

"The taste of Iron's boot when he rams it so far up your jackset you'll be tasting the leather." Radar finished, followed by a roar of laughter from Iron himself.

"Although I am sure Sparks is ready with a witty remark, we have a nebula to patrol. Okay by the numbers, patrol pattern Ilkas Ska. Ready...spread." Iron said as the three scouts that were holding formation began to head off to various points and check for anything suspicious.

* * *

Group Captain Hiirel Soban sat down behind his desk in his quarters, he looked at the picture of his wife and their eleven children. The family pictures were typical, he wasn't in them. While some would assume it was because he was taking them this wasn't the case. He just was hardly around which lead him to wonder why Lana hadn't left him for someone else more...consistent.

Hiirel's thoughts were interrupted by a steady knock on the door that could only be from one person. "Come in Tamara, the hatch is open." Hiirel said as his executive officer entered his cabin.

"So captain, that was quite some ride." She said taking a seat. His XO was breathtakingly beautiful even in military dress, with the long black hair and her soft features that culminated in her enchanting blue eyes. Had he been younger and not married, she would definitely be someone to pursue. Yet he was not so young anymore, one of the older line captains in the fleet and that was besides the point. He would not trade what he had with Lana and their family for anything else in the world, or at least that's what he told himself so he wouldn't do something incredibly stupid.

"You could say that Tamara. So do we have any idea where we are?" Hiirel asked his XO who was leaning back on the chair with her legs and arms folded.

"Our scouts have just started the patrol, with any luck we will have our bearings in a couple of hours." Tamara said, looking at her captain who was going over data on his console.

"Who took lead?" The captain asked.

"Talkas took Kiitum Team for this one." Tamara responded to which Hiirel looked up.

"He's a good man, if anyone can find us a way out of the soup its him." Hiirel responded and asked a question that was bothering him. "What about the crew?"

"Sir, we're in a nebula completely blind. The crew are thinking this is like..." Tamara began but stopped herself.

Hiirel understood this, it was tradition not to mention them inside of a nebula. Very bad luck indeed. "Understood, but we jumped vertically from the galactic plane so I don't think its much of a worry." He said to reassure Tamara but also himself.

"I understand, but still the sooner engineering can get us out of here the better everyone will feel." Tamara said and looked over at the game sitting at a table to the side and a small smile crept over her face. "Well, Hiri I believe it was my turn."

Hiirel let out a chuckle and stood up, walking over to the strategy game that they played that had almost become tradition. "So you think you can beat this old war dog this time?" He said, taking a seat.

"Not a problem, your bark is worse than your bite." Tamara said confidently.

"Then make your move." Hiirel taunted.

"Siir Kal to seven dash three." Tamara said confidently which caused Hiirel to frown. She was definitely getting better at this.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Telkas continued to watch his nimble scout's systems, he wanted nothing more than to see what it could do but this was a recon mission and stupidity was off the table. He had a sour feeling in his gut, travelling out here virtually blind when the carrier was in such bad shape, it was almost as if they were trying to tempt fate.

"Hey Iron, you have your ears on?" A voice chirped over the radio.

"Sparks, you better have a damn good reason for breaking silence on a recon sweep." Telkas said, clearly very annoyed.

"Don't get your panties in a bunch. I just thought the skipper might want to get his hands on a few thousand metric tonnes of raw material." Kira said in response in an almost causal fashion.

"Say what?" Jona said, pining up.

"Yeah, picked up a massive asteroid belt. Scared the living shit out of me...damn fog radar didn't pick it up until I was almost on top of it. Makes me understand why Iron was flying his like an old lady." Kira said.

"Sparks, we need that material so..." Telkas began but was interrupted.

"Already dropped the beacon, those rock hounds can have at it. Just tell 'em they owe me a round for making their life easier." Kira said.

Telkas sighed at this and opened a high gain transmission to the carrier. "Faal Tiris, this is Kiitum One. We have picked up a resource rich asteroid belt and have dropped a beacon at the position. Recommend you set up forward resource operations at that point. Kiitum Team out."

"Okay people, let's get back to it. We have plenty of space to cover and not a lot of time to do it in." Telkas said returning to his duty. All in all it was going well, no contact and they found the materials they would need to get the carrier combat ready sooner than expected.

Telkas guided his scout to the new location, just more dust and echoes. It was times like this he was relieved that the new tightbeam nav system could penetrate the nebula. Getting lost in a nebula was one of the worst ways he could think of going out on.

"Iron, I'm starting to get in the clear here. May have a contact report." Jona spoke up.

"Excellent work Radar. If anyone could sniff out Vaygr patrols its you." Telkas said.

"Um boss, they're not Vaygr." Jona said, somewhat quiter.

"Don't tell me they're..." Telkas said as a lump formed in his throat.

"Negative, they're not Kadeshi." Jona said, he never bought into the superstition.

"Would you spill the beans already, Radar?" Kira piped up.

"Hard to say, but the signature is all wrong." Jona replied to the question.

"All right, let's play it safe. We have your position. We'll set up a triangulation ping and then head back to the boat." Telkas said, not wanting to take the risk.

With that being said, the two other Scouts formed up in positions to triangulate the contact report. The massive sensors suite on the Scouts proved invaluable as the sensors pings began gathering mountains of data on the target. They may not have matched the profiles of Hiigara's old enemies but its profile and size screamed military. When they gathered all the data they could, the three vessels headed back to their carrier, confident that they were not detected. Nothing could be further from the truth.

* * *

Aboard the SSV Bogota, the countermeasures officer had picked up their faint signatures and had begun his own sensors scan just as the scouts had fired off the sensors ping. By sheer luck, the LADAR was able to get a composite image of the target.

"Captain! LADAR contact! Seven points off the starboard bow." He quickly informed the skipper.

"What do you have for me Lieutenant Mandoza." Captain Huan said, standing behind the operator with his hands clasped behind his back.

"Its a small craft of some sort, although about twice the size of one of our fighters. Computer is chewing out a composite now." Came the reply of the junior officer.

Captain Huan looked at the image, his brow wrinkled as he dark eyes stared at the image that was given to him. The craft did indeed appear large for a strike craft. It sported two large dihedral wings with fin structures of sort. What bothered him was two cylindrical protrusions on the underside which were most likely weapons of some sort. The size of the craft in question clearly indicated that is was a heavy fighter of some sort, sporting significant firepower.

"Lieutenant, I want this data captured and stored as most secret." Captain Huan said as he walked to the forward section of the bridge. "Helmsman, plot a course for fifth fleet assembly point in the Armstrong Nebula. Best possible speed." Captain Huan said as he returned to his duties, hoping that these craft were not stalking him as a prize.

* * *

"That was a good game Tamara." Hiirel said as he stood up from his chair. To be honest he almost lost the game several times. Tamara proved to be an aggressive tactician, if somewhat unorthodox. She would make a deadly frigate captain, hence the reason he had the letter of recommend tucked in his desk to be given to fleet command upon return.

"Won't be long now sir, I..." Tamara began when they were interrupted with the PA.

"Sorry to interrupt captain, but our scouts picked up an asteroid belt with the materials we require." Came the voice of the watch officer.

"Very well, send out a pair of proximity sensors to the area and give the Somtaaw miners the go ahead. But if we get the slightest sign of trouble get them back here. I also want a squadron of interceptors on ready alert." Hiirel said in his communicator.

"Understood sir." Came the simple reply.

"Well, I guess we better get back to it." Hiirel said as he headed for the door with Tamara close behind.

"Sir, if it is all right with you, I should check with the repairs in engineering." Tamara said, as she straightened out her uniform. Yes, she would one day make someone very happy.

"Permission granted." Hiirel said as he headed to the bridge.

"Anything to report?" Hiirel said, arriving on the bridge that was less of a sign of chaos as then it was before and felt much more useful now that he had a plan.

"The scout patrol is on its way back and forward resourcing operations have begun. Engineering reports we should have sublight manoeuvring and most carrier operations back in about seven hours." Nala said, stepping down from the bridge pedestal.

"Very good, I have the conn. Watch officer Somtaaw, you stand relieved." Hiirel said.

The woman gave him a crisp military salute before returning to her regular duties of ship defence.

"Sir, I have flight leader Somtaaw on the line, he says its important. I'll patch you through." The communications officer said to the captain from his console.

_-act re...erified. Ship o...cation...ing verifies._

_ "_Can you clean this up at all?" Hiirel said, frustrated at how the nebula was creating havoc on hi systems.

_Positive contact verified. Ship of unknown classification. Triangulated Sensors Ping verifies._

Unknown classification? "Comm officer, how long until the patrol returns?" The captain was now more confused then ever.

"Momentarily sir." Came the reply.

"Have those pilots report immediately to the ready room. I also need Commander Paktu on the bridge." Hiirel said, knowing he would have to get to the bottom of this.

* * *

Stepping out of his scout, Telkas was met by some technicians and security detail. "Flight officer Soban, you and your squadron are to report to the ready room. We will be securing the sensors data, which from this point on is classified as most secret. Do you understand?" The security officer said.

"What sensors data?" Telkas said, knowing how the game was played.

With that being said, they made their way to the ready room where the captain was standing with the tactical officer. When the door was closed and they had taken their seats, a holographic image of the ship they had found was brought up. "So care to explain?" The captain asked.

"Picked up an anomaly and figured it would be best if we gathered some intel." Telkas responded.

"What would you have done if you were discovered? We are in no condition to fight a new enemy, especially in our condition." Hiirel said, annoyed at such a risk.

"Eventually we have to fight. Can't always hide behind armour plate...sir." The harsh female voice was that of Kira, sticking up for her squadron leader as a loyal wingman should.

"Watch yourself officer. But in this instance, you made the right call." Hiirel finished, he expected his officers to make a decision and stick by it.

"Tactical, what can you tell us about this ship?" Hiirel asked, and let the intelligence/science officer examine it.

"Well the sloping hull is a very exotic design indeed. It appears to be slightly longer than our own frigates, although not near the tonnage." She began.

"Wait, so you're telling me that it is thinly armoured?" The captain said, evaluating it himself.

"Correct, it also seems to house some sort of mass driver protruding up from the bow and runs down the long axis of the ship. Analysis confirms that it is more than likely a fire and manoeuvre vessel of sorts, as to its capability that is entirely unknown." The officer concluded.

"Thank-you. Thoughts?" The captain said, looking to the pilots seated in the room.

"Perhaps we should move deeper into the nebula to avoid detection." Jona suggested.

"I don't think so." Telkas said, and then looked to the captain. "Sir, this ship had no escort, why would a capital ship have no escort? If anything, I would say this vessel was on patrol and has no interest in entering the nebula." Telkas said, just as curious as everyone else on who this was.

"I agree. Until I brief the crew, you are to keep this under your hats. Is that clear?" Hiirel said, receiving a unanimous 'yes sir'. "Very well, you can return to your quarters. We are going to run the scout patrol on five shifts. Dismissed." The captain finished and let the crew return to the quarters.

"Well boys, I need to drink some Somtaaw miners under the table. Care to join me?" Kira said, knowing her evening would probably end with her in a room guarded by the ship police.

"Have fun Kira, just make sure you're fit for duty on our next rotation." Telkas said and left on his own.

"Well Radar, I guess its just you and me then?" Kira said with a wide grin.

Jona groaned, he was going to regret this and knew it. "Lead the way, Sparks."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Kira was sitting down at the table with a group of very large and gritty men, along with countless empty shotglasses. "Well, I'll be damned. The little lady can really hold her drink." One of them said, clearly the leader.

"Lady? Ha!" Came the slurred voice of Jona lying on the floor, clearly having been taken out of commission.

"How is it she can handle our mead and one of our own Kiith brothers has already succumbed from a few drinks?" The mining foreman said.

"A few? I have not drank that much alcohol in...well ever." Jona said admitting defeat. "Bu that's not important. Sparks doesn't count as a lady by any stretch of the imagination."

"Sparks? Why do they call you that?" The miner enquired.

"Oh that? A great story of Sp...Kira writing checks her body can't cash." Jona slurred.

"I find that hard to believe." The man said, clearly trying to flirt with Kira.

"Radar. Put a cork in it." Kira said, her face starting to go a little more read.

"Its a great story. Ends with two big gouges in the training carrier Khar-Teela." Jona said, clearly not to be dissuaded.

"Please go on." The miner said with a smile creeping across his big, scarred mug.

"We had just qualified on the Blade IV trainers and we were shown an operational Triikor. It was supposed to be a static display, but Sparks here thought she could fly any strike craft. Long story short, she found out the hard way that Taiidan controls are a little different where stick forward is up instead of down. That is how Sparks got her name...and left her mark on the Khar-Teela. Literally." Jona finished as the whole room erupted into laughter.

When things calmed down, the embarrassed Kira looked at them. "As well, this is how Jona got a kick to the ribs." She said as she gave her drunk wingman the tip of her boot.

"Don't listen to them. Scout pilots spread nothing but tall tales and outright lies." Came the voice of a woman entering the room with three other females.

"Who invited these assholes?" Kira gestured with her thumb to those behind her. Bomber pilots...she hated bomber pilots. The feeling was mutual as well. It was no secret that there was a bit of animosity in the strike craft wings between the bomber pilots and scout/interceptor pilots.

"We heard some scout pilots were down here. Thought we should stop by. You know, just in case you need someone to fight your battles for you. Kind of like the third battle of the Eastern Fringe." She said as a taunt.

It worked. Kira walked up to her. The bomber pilot was of a larger build and much taller than Kira, but that didn't help others in the past. "Care to say that to my face?" Kira said, her rage clearly building up very quickly to the boiling point.

"You heard me, the 351st was a joke." The cocky bomber pilot said, giving Kira a little push.

"Is that so?" Kira asked, and then with lightning speed clocked the woman a good one sending her sprawling to the floor and triggering a barfight.

* * *

Telkas arrived at the brig at 0700 ship time, having been paged by one of the police constables. Walking through the front room he gave one of the officers a nod before opening the door to the holding cell. Lying on the bed was Kira Soban, and with his hands wrapped around the toilet bowl was Jona LiirHra. Telkas folded his arms across his chest with wry smile. "Have fun last night?"

"Please sir, not so loud." Jona groaned.

"I should have warned you about that. Unless you've had it before, Somtaaw mead hits you like a ramming frigate." Telkas said.

The response was some sort of groan and mumbling the name of their deity.

Talkas couldn't help but chuckle at this. "Sorry Radar, even the great maker can't help you out of this one."

With that being said, Kira began to stir and turned to face Kira before sitting up and stretching. "Come to bail us out, boss?" She said, looking a little tired but almost fit were it not for the nice bruise that was forming on her cheek.

"Sparks, what happened to your face?" Telkas said, surprised she was doing so well.

"I hit a bomber pilot's fist with my face." She said, standing up. "Don't worry, I left a couple of that bitch's teeth on the floor as a return for the favour."

Telkas just shook his head. "I was expecting to see you in a similar state to Radar."

"You mean the lightweight? I admit, those miners can make one hell of a brew but nothing I can't handle." Kira said, looking down at Jona.

"Sparks, if I live through this, I'm going to kill you." Jona groaned.

The door of the cell was opened, and Telkas went to help his fallen comrade. "You have no one to blame but yourself. Didn't anyone tell you that drinking with a Sobani has bad idea written all over it." With that said, the three of them left and headed back to their quarters.

* * *

Inside the large captain's cabin of the SSV Normandy sat a woman in her officer's uniform. Her long, dark hair was tied back into a ponytail and she was talking to an adolescent female on the vid screen.

"Angela, you can't just let your fists do all the talking." She said in a stern voice.

The teenager on the other side snorted in derision. "Well, look at my parents. This shouldn't be surprising."

"Angela Hannah Williams." The woman said in a slightly scolding tone. "You know full well that you could have killed someone because of your abilities."

"You mean mutation." She replied, a look of bitterness came across her face.

"Now hold on. There is nothing wrong with you." Ashley said to her daughter.

"Really? None of this would ever have happened had _you_ not gone and exposed yourself." The girl said getting sourer and sourer in her disposition.

"Angela, I don't much care for the attitude. We'll talk about this next time I'm by the academy." Ashley commanded.

"That's right, can't have me sully the good name you worked so hard to achieve." Angela said, almost in a sneering disdain.

"Angela, you know that's not why. I love you and hate to see you like this." Ashley said, trying her best to comfort her daughter.

"Bullshit, the only thing you've ever loved is the Alliance." The girl said cutting the comms.

Ashley slumped back in her chair. "You were right dad, space is no place to raise a family." Yet what choice did she have? Grissom Academy was the safest place for her. She was still haunted by the image of her little daughter having that tantrum when she was three and seeing that hue of blue surround her for a moment before collapsing on the floor. Were it not for the quick work of the doctors, her little baby would have died from the vertebrae fractures. No. If her daughter was going to be able to live at least some semblance of a normal life then she needed the training the facility could give to control her biotics so she wouldn't hurt or kill herself or someone else in an accident.

She looked to her desk again and saw that she had another message incoming.

Captain Ashely Williams,

We have a mission that requires the special skill of your crew. The SSV Bogota picked up a strange return when patrolling the Pylos Nebula. Enough for Captain Huan to secure the data as most secret. We need you to begin a grid search pattern in the nebula for signs of suspicious activity. As always, we expect you to act with the utmost discretion.

Regards, Rear Admiral Peter vonBraun, Fifth Fleet

Ashley sighed at this message, she was looking forward to spending time with her daughter. She knew that Angela needed it, no matter the front that she put up. She knew raising her would be tough, Angela had her father's determination and her mother's temper. The only thing that helped her sleep at night was the fact that the instructors as the school were tough as nails and could handle her little outbursts.

* * *

Angela left the communications room, walking past the science lab she decided to poke her head inside and see what they were working on.

"The square root of 906.01 is..." Began a voice working behind some tech.

"30.1" Angela said, smiling.

"Oh, hello Angela Shepard." The man said, standing up from his work for a moment.

"Hi David." Angela said, he was the only one who she would allow to call her that. Ever since she first answered the statement due to the stories her mother told her about her father, David called her by her father's last name instead of her legal name. Very few knew who her father was and she thanked her mother for that.

"Can I help you?" David asked, but was still working on something.

"No, I'll keep it quiet. Just curious about what you're making." Angela said, sitting in the chair that David allowed visitors to sit in and behaved how he wanted visitors to behave.

"Energy emitter. We're trying to think differently." David said and then returned to his work, not saying another word.

Angela smiled at this, not sure what exactly he meant by it but it was interesting watching the autistic man work. She then had a pang of guilt in her stomach. She had also found out through others what David's brother had done to him, and yet she had a loving parent who only wanted the best for her.

"Thank-you David." Angela said, leaving the room. She then walked down the corridors of the academy with a slight smile on her face, funny how the most unlikely people could help her in the most unlikely of ways. She would make sure she wrote a letter of apology to her mom tonight. Feeling a pang of hunger, she looked at her watch and realized that it was lunch and she better stock up on some carbs. Apparently an archeologist of sorts was visiting and she would be running the training regimen. Angela shrugged at this, it sure as hell beat another round with the psychotic biotic.

* * *

"Sir, we have power back to basic systems and engineering reports they can release one of the frigates from the bay." One of the officers on the bridge said to captain Soban as he was staring out the window of the massive bridge. He still couldn't wrap his head around how the eggheads were able to create a localized defence field around the 'boom' as the men called it. Historically this was a deadly weakness of every Hiigaran capital ship. They sacrificed protection of the primary bridge for excellent fire control, a weakness the enemy was more than eager to exploit. Yet now, it had come to the point that targeting the bridge was useless, meaning fewer lost command crews.

Hiirel turned his gaze from the massive window and to the officer that was addressing him. "Very well, deploy the frigate so the crew can do a proper damage assessment." Hiirel said, as he watched the dark emergency lighting on the bridge be replaced by the bright lights as the primaries on the bridge finally kicked in. Everyone in the room squinted slightly as they got used to having proper lighting again.

"Captain, I just received a request to begin diagnostics of the hyperspace module." Another officer said on the bridge.

"Tell them to proceed, but with caution. We still have no idea what sort of damage we took in our jump." Hiirel said, knowing that a damaged jump module could cause a myriad of problems, worst being pulled into an unstable waveform.

* * *

Andriis S'jet took his seat aboard frigate 37211. They had been pressed into service so quickly that the ship didn't have a name yet, something that he could see made the crew uneasy. He had no such worries yet. He was just a 16 year old young male having just finished his education and was serving his pre-academy time aboard the fleet, his bright, green eyes taking in everything he could.

Andriis saw the captain sit down as the crew went about their duty, no one had to be told what to do. This crew knew what was to be expected and the only time that changed was at the discretion of the captain or a direct order from fleet command.

As the ship pulled away from the carrier, they began checking their systems. Many of the crewmembers reporting the ship's status back to the captain. From what he heard, they wouldn't be flying anytime soon.

"Sir! Hyperspace emitters have just lit up! The mothership's module is opening a jump gate!" Came the call of one of the engineers over the communications system. Andriis knew it was bad when there was that much emotion in a voice of people who were supposed to stay calm under fire. Getting torn apart in hyperspace was still the worst fear among all Hiigarans.

"Shut it down! Disengage the emitters!" The captain barked back.

"Too late! The window is open." Came the reply in resignation.

"All hands, brace!" The captain ordered.

* * *

"Ma'am, I need you to up here ASAP." Came the voice of a wavering Ensign.

Ashley sighed and made her way from the CIC up near the bridge. They had been scanning up and down the Pylos Nebula for nearly and hour and whatever Captain Huan had found, it was clearly gone now.

"What is it sailor?" Ashley asked, standing behind the scanner operator.

"I don't know." He replied nervously.

"You called me up here for something you don't know?" Ashley asked, folding her arms.

"Sort of..." The man said hesitantly.

"Just tell me what you got." Ashley said, feeling tired. She hated these wild goose chases, but yet knowing who it was who sent in the report she wasn't ready to quite dismiss it.

"An energy reading of sorts." The Ensign replied looking at Ashley.

"You called me for that? Well, run it through the computer." Ashley responded, annoyed at whoever had trained this guy.

"That's not it ma'am, its coming from inside the nebula." The Ensign replied, yet Ashley was missing the significance. "Remember when the SSV Mckinley got lost in the hourglass nebula?"

Ash couldn't forget that one, it was a search and rescue operation that committed the entire fifth fleet. Some sort of navigation malfunction, the ship tried everything to get a signal out but the cloud was just too dense to...

"Wait...and energy signature exiting the nebula?" Ashley asked the Ensign.

"Yes ma'am. We're talking a source of immense power." The Ensign replied, seeing that his CO got what he was trying to say.

"Excellent work, try and see what we're dealing with." Ashley said as she went forward to the pilot.

"Moreau, take us into the nebula and make sure the IES is engaged. Things just got very interesting." Ashley said.

"Come on captain, we've fought rouge geth and reapers. How much more interesting can things get." Lt. Commander Jeff Moreau said.

Ashley just looked at him before returning to the CIC. Joker was a damn good pilot, but that mouth of his kept him at Lt. Commander. Although something told Ashley that part of it had to to with him trying to stay on the Normandy as a memory of...her.

* * *

"Someone care to tell me what the hell just happened?" Hiirel said, furious at a mistake that more than likely just cost him the lives of 38 people.

"Power spike, we tried to re-route but there was damage to the module that was undetectable due to the damage to our systems." Came the reply.

"Damn it." Hiirel muttered under his breath. This day was going so well until now. "Do we have a distress beacon yet?"

"No sir, and we're very unlikely to find it inside a nebula." The officer conintued.

As he was milling over this, he heard a proximity alert go off. "Now what." Hiirel said, knowing things would not end well today.

"Sir, proximity sensors have picked up a ship of unknown configuration entering the nebula."

"Engineering, how's our cloaking module?" Hiirel asked.

"Undamaged sir." To which Hiirel breathed a sigh of relief.

"Engage cloaking system and get the fleet re-positioned to this point here." Hiirel said, indicating the point on the sensors screen. Now he could only hope that their location was not compromised.

* * *

Telkas was making a scramble for his scout along with Kira and Jona who seemed to just be bearing the self-imposed pain they were dealing with.

Scrambling into his seat and quickly firing up his systems, he spoke to the other two members of the team. Okay people, we need to stay within the carrier's cloaking envelope. Our task is simple, we keep whatever ship is tailing us from detecting our group. If they get too close to us, we are authorized to use the EMP and disable the ship, but we are not to open fire on them. Is that understood?"

"We got you, Iron." Came the reply of Kira.

"You with us, Radar?" Telkas asked.

"Understood, sir." Jona said, clearly still not one hundred percent.

The nimble craft then left the bay, dodging amongst the other vessels within the envelope. It was a deadly group to say the least, with the Interceptors, Bombers and Gunships on patrol around the carrier, there was enough firepower to badly cripple a Vaygr battlecruiser. Yet hidden from view in plain sight.

* * *

Angela sat there at her desk, listening to the Asari teaching the class. Droning on about some event or another, regaling her adventures in the galaxy and claiming to have known her father. She grew sick of these, having heard enough from her mother. These seemed even more fancied to her, probably nothing more than Alliance propaganda. The other students were here because they wanted to join the Alliance, but she was here because these were the only people who could train her not to accidentally kill herself due to her mutation. She refused to refer to it as an ability, feeling if it was then it would have to happen naturally and not because of an industrial accident.

She then noticed the Asari was staring at her. "Miss Williams, what do you think?"

"About what?" She asked, having realized she wasn't paying attention.

"About deploying biotics in the Alliance." Jessica, the obvious Alliance cheerleader said.

The Asari continued to stare at her for a moment. "Doesn't matter to me none." Angela dismissed.

"Sorry Dr. T'Soni, Angela is not a team player. The only reason she got into the academy is because her mom commands the Normandy and is a Council Spectre." Jessica said to the Asari.

"My apologies. I just thought with your ability and family history that you were here to serve." Liara said, to which most students thought she was talking about her mom but Angela knew otherwise.

"Well, let's continue with the lesson. Why does the Alliance deploy biotics in the field." The doctor continued. Angela was now even less interested in listening to this woman, she rubbed the back of her head again, still feeling the scar from the implant. Much to her own protest. They had tried to keep her biotics in check naturally, but it was just too much and had to implant her with the L8M. She only worked with her biotics when the buildup in her system was too much and only then in private.

Liara was continuing to explain to the students how valuable they were to their own people. Biotics still carried somewhat of a stigma among humanity, but it was getting less and less as the years progressed. Her primary reason for coming was on a request from Ashley. She said her daughter was having more and more problems and was hoping she could try and connect with her. Liara couldn't help but notice that Angela was becoming a very striking young lady, she carried much of the looks of her mother but some of the features of her father. Primarily, those striking, blue eyes. The problem was they had a look in them that reminded her of the gaze that John would give to his enemies.

There was another thing as well. The biotic energy she emitted even at rest was quite significant, and not just for a human but for anyone. Were it not for the pull that Angela's mother had with the Alliance, she probably would not have had a choice of whether or not to serve the Alliance.

As the class continued on, she felt a prickle on the back of her neck. She could see the other students were feeling it too. She looked up from her notes, her attention to detail paid off as she could see the tiny flicks of biotic energy flicking off Angela. Fortunately, so did their instructor at the back of the room.

"Williams, outside." Angela almost jumped at hearing Jack call her voice, she was seething as she listened to this Asari talk about how great the Systems Alliance was. She was no longer angry at her mother, but at the system that compelled her mother to sacrifice her relationship with her only daughter and took away her father. A father she never knew except by the tales people told of him, she never heard his voice for herself, never felt a comforting arm around her shoulder and never would hear him say 'I love you.' All because of the dammed Systems Alliance.

Note: I noticed this chapter has a lot of breaks and shifting to different POVs. Let me know if its too much and I'll clean it up.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Great. Just Great. Angela thought to herself as she had to report to Kahlee Sanders...again. She tried to tell Jack that she did nothing wrong, only to get a stream of insults and restrained language as she called out her bullshit.

Taking her seat, she waited until the head of the academy was finished whatever it was she was doing. Probably trying to cook up another scheme to rope naive kids into her precious Alliance. Miss Sanders then looked back at her, after finishing up her call.

"So, Jack informed me you were getting pretty wound up in class. Care to tell me what this is about?" Kahlee said, focusing her attention on Angela.

"Nothing." Angela muttered, trying to not look at her. It was something about those eyes, the way they seemed to be able to see right through lies and deception.

"Angela, do I need to remind you of the last time you said it was nothing?" Kahlee questioned.

"That jerk had it coming." Angela said, remembering how she put him in his place.

"You could have killed Mark." Kahlee said in a serious tone. "You should have reported him to one of the instructors."

"Maybe he'll think twice next time he tries to grab someone like that." Angela fired back, clearly getting wound up again.

"Angela, you shattered the radius in his right arm and the doctors said if you pushed a little further, the bone fragments from his nose would have ended up in his brain." Kahlee said, trying to show Angela the seriousness of the situation. "Like it or not, your abilities can be deadly. We can't let you return to your civilian life until you can prove to us you can keep it in check."

That stung Angela. She hated this place and wanted out, yet she knew Sanders was right. She shuddered at the thought of what might happen if she got angry in this state over someone she cared about. She definitely did not want a repeat of what happened at grandma's funeral.

"Angela, just tell me what's bothering you." Kahlee said, trying to get it in the open.

"Its just personal stuff." Angela muttered.

"Look the sooner you tell..." Kahlee began again, but was interrupted by Angela.

"Just drop it, okay!" Angela yelled, slamming her palms on the director's desk. Laced with her biotics gave a distinctive crack as she fractured the granite slate.

Kahlee looked up at Angela, no look of worry or surprise on her face. "Fine, you don't have to tell me but I am arranging a session with Dr. Chambers." Kahlee said.

Angela rolled her eyes with disdain, the little woman apparently was another of father's old friends. Yet the most aggravating part about it, was the doctor did not pass any sort of judgement and just let her vent. That was the worst part, she could just say what she damn well felt and the doctor would just listen and empathize. She had no idea how the hell she did it. Angela got up from the chair and left Kahlee's office, only to see some of the older students in the hall.

She tried to avert their gaze as she walked past them. "So Angie is it true?" One of the girls in the group asked her. Boy did she hate that nickname, and they knew it.

"Is what true, Trisha?" Angela asked, not wanting to put up with their crap right about now.

"I was walking past the lab, and David called you Angela Shepard." The 16 year old said, as the others in the group looked as Angela like she was some sort of alien...well previously unknown alien.

"No way." One of the guys in the group said.

"Explains the chip on her shoulder..but...no, it can't be true." Another said.

Angela sighed. "Yeah, I know the rumours. Truth be told, I'm not sure who my father is. My mom never talks about him." Angela lied.

"Then why did David..." Trisha began.

"Because I answered his math question, Patrica." Angela said, knowing how much she hated her full name.

"Why are you so selfish Angie?" Trisha countered, clearly not willing to let it go.

"What are you babbling about?" Angela retorted, she could feel the biotic tension flicking at the back of her neck and her hairs standing on end from the charge.

"Steven here got some security vids of you in cargo bay three. You could be saving lives in the Alliance with barriers like that. But no, you would rather be a greedy civie then serve the greater good." The others in the group started to crowd her, clearly holding a similar view.

"Sorry Patrica, the Alliance isn't for me." Angela said, getting annoyed with yet another Alliance cheerleader.

"Why is that Angie? We too good for you?" Trish said, with a snide look on her face.

"No, just a medical problem. I have a bad knee, I'll never be able to goose-step properly." Angela said, allowing her comment to sink in.

"Little bitch thinks she's a comedian." The tall male Steven said.

Angela didn't say a word, unleashing a biotic field that put the group into stasis as she ran off.

* * *

Andriis felt a lurch and his head slam against a console as the frigate tore into normal space. "Report!" The captain yelled.

Although he didn't have to, the groaning was all the evidence he needed and yelled to the command crew. "All hands to escape pods! Abandon ship!"

Andriis got up the best he could, the interior of the ship was torn to ribbons, countless bodies were strewn across the floor. He continued to trip and fall into various sharp objects as he felt his way in the dark to an escape hatch. He fell inside of the pod and felt the lurch as the pod ejected from the ship. Finding his way to the console, he turned on the screen and panned the camera back to the ship as it listed and then detonated in a fireball with the resulting shock wave accelerating the escape pod even further along.

Andriis took stock of things, he was unaware if any of the other pods made it. It would be pointless to drop the beacon as it was unlikely the Faal-Tiris could send out a rescue mission anytime soon. The last thing he wanted was to be picked up by a Vaygr or Taidanii patrol or even worse...Turanic Raiders. He then looked down, his arms and legs were all ripped up from his scurry to the pod. Quickly pulling out the medical kit, he began patching himself up the best he could.

* * *

"Captain, looks like we're starting to get something here..." Joker said as he was looking out into the pink nebula cloud as if by squinting he could see through the fog.

"What is it, Joker." Ashley said, standing behind him.

"Massive heat signature and its moving." Joker said, his hands still gliding over the controls.

"Well, be careful." Ashley said, starting to squint hereself.

"Range?" Joker barked over to the scanner operator.

"350, 300, 250, 200..." The officer said.

"I don't get it. They should be right..." Joker began but was stopped by a sickening 'bang' and an equally loud screeching noise. "Bloody hell!" Joker yelled as he had the ship peel off back into the nebula.

"Joker, get us out of here!" Ashley barked as the mission just went tits up.

Ashley then sprinted off to engineering as she made it to the elevator. "Who the hell puts an elevator in a ship anyways?" Ashley ranted as she finally made it to engineering.

"Commander Daniels, report!" Ashley barked to the female engineer as she entered the room, alarms blaring.

"Blame the scunner driving the ship." Kenneth Donnaley replied.

"Shut your trap, Lieutenant." Ashley snapped back, in no mood for his mouth.

"Number three engine is shredded ma'am. We're working to get the balance back in line. Whatever Joker his was sure solid. I'll have a report once the core is under control." Gabby said as she continued to work.

"Sure glad Shepard had those thermal pipes installed." Kenneth muttered as he worked his magic.

Ashley just stood back and waited for things to get back to normal. Although she could have easily got a report sent to the CIC, there was something she preferred about seeing the problem first hand. One by one, the alarms were silencing before Gabby spoke up.

"Kenneth, watch the core output and set the power draw for the bridge at sixty-eight percent." Gabby said before approaching Ashley with a datapad.

"He hit debris?" Ashley said, surprised at how her pilot could be so careless.

"Looks like it, after the impact there was a foreign material warning in the engine three burner can. The material blew out the fuel regulator nozzles which resulted in an explosion ripping apart the exhaust baffles." Gabby finished.

"So can we jump?" Ashley asked, concerned at getting stuck here.

"I can't see any reason why not. The wing spar is intact and pod four took no damage. I wouldn't recommend conventional FTL for more than an hour and we should not exceed seventy percent at sublight. But all in all, we should be able to limp back to Armstrong Base for repairs." Gabby said, finishing her assessment and returning to her tasks.

With this information, she headed back to the bridge. Part of her felt sorry for Joker, the brass would probably use this enquiry to get him 'reassigned'. Although, she still wanted to know how Joker missed it.

"So captain, engine failure right? I'll take that apology in a gold plaque now." Joker said, returning to his duty.

"Lieutenant Commander Moreau." Ashley began.

Joker turned around, the look in his eyes was a mix of pain and fear.

"It has been verified that you did indeed hit a large enough object to cause damage to a Systems Alliance Space Vehicle. You are therefore relieved of your duties until a board of enquiry can evaluate the incident." Ashley said, knowing she had to play this right to save his career.

Joker slowly got up out of his chair. "This is a mistake." He said, as he hobbled his way to the crew quarters.

"Flight Lieutenant Andropov, you are to take the helm and bring us back to the frigate berths in the Armstrong Cluster." Ashley said, stepping down from the helm as she followed Jeff to the quarters.

"Captain, how could you do that to me. I love this ship." Joker said, clearly more hurt of the dismissal from duty.

"You know full well that I had no choice, you damn near killed us out there, Jeff." Ashley said, trying to explain things.

"It's not my fault, we had nothing on the scanners. Nothing, just a heat signature." Joker said, and looked up for a moment. Giving out a weak laugh.

"What is it?" Ashley asked.

"When ever I feel like I screwed up big, part of me still expects EDI to pop up and bring up a key piece of data that I missed." Joker said, and then looked down again.

"I know how you feel." Ashley said, putting her hand on his shoulder.

"How would you..." Joker began, and then for a split second saw a hint of pain in her eyes and realized how idiotic that comment was. This ship was just as much a reminder to her of John as it was to him of EDI.

"Don't worry Joker, this is just a formality. Once we do this little dog and pony show for the brass, you'll be back in the driver's seat." Ashley said, standing up and walking to the door. "Oh and Joker? If Ivan scratches her, you can toss him out the airlock yourself." Ashley said, smiling.

"Come on captain, I trained him. That makes him at least half as good as me." Jeff said, feeling a little less shitty about what happened.

* * *

"Someone want to tell me what the hell just happened?" Hiirel barked at his command crew. He checked the cloaking system personally, it was operating and everyone was within the envelope. Then how the hell were they detected?

"From what I can tell, they flew right into the fighter screen. Our ships were forced to scatter, one of the gunships didn't make it out of the way in time." The sensors officer said.

"Don't tell me that..." Hiirel began.

"No casualties, it just sheared the upper turret clean off. They're rattled, but alive." The sensors officer finished.

Hiirel breathed a sigh of relief at this. He had lost far too many good people today and had enough letters to write to spouses and parents. Although this revealed another problem, cloaking technology was proven essentially useless which would make this covert operation much more difficult.

"Sir, if I may...I think I have a theory." It was the voice of Tamara.

"Speak your mind." Hiirel said, slumping down on the captain's chair.

"Based on the trajectory of the ship, they were pointed at the engineering section of the carrier." She began.

"How does this help us?" Hiirel asked.

"Well, maybe they detected our heat signature and it wasn't they saw us through the cloak." Tamara continued. "I mean, does it make any sense to charge a completely unknown and trust their ships to scatter?"

"Are you saying it was an accidental collision?" Hiirel asked, now very much intrigued. It was an interesting theory and very much plausible.

"I would bet a year's pay on it." Tamara said, showing Hiirel the telemetry.

"Well, besides the fact they seem to have the mindset of ramming frigate captain, what else have we learned?" Hiirel asked the crew which was received with a little laughter.

"It seems that these ships are also relatively fast, given the closure speed." One officer piped up.

"They're bloody manoeuvrable too, did you see how fast it peeled off?" Another mentioned, which sparked murmur among the crew.

"Won't matter if we have to fight them head to head." Yet another officer stated.

"Explain." Hiirel said.

"Well, based on the data. You see, that sheared turret seems to have done significant damage to the ship. They may be faster than us, but even if that is so and even if they can engage us at greater ranges, if we force an engagement then I think our ships would survive much better."

Hiirel thought about it, and it did make sense. The three requirements for a ship were armour, firepower and manoeuvrability. Hiigaran ship designs had sacrificed the last point for the first two and compensated with tactical jumps. It was very much possible that these people had similar concepts and just decided to sacrifice protection. No matter what, next time he would not allow this wily commander to get the drop on him, he underestimated his opponent once and would not allow it to happen again.

* * *

"Angela! It's good to see you again." Kelly said, hugging her as she entered her office.

"Dr. Chambers." Angela said, as Kelly finally let her out of her hug. Angela did not want to make friends here, she wanted to get out of here.

"Angela, you really should just call me Kelly." The redheaded doctor said as she sat down on her chair and gestured for her to take a seat on the couch.

"I'll work on that, Dr. Chambers." Angela said, seeing a picture next to her bookshelf she saw a holo of the doctor with a soldier of some sort. He looked like a giant of a man with dark hair and blue eyes. The N7 armour he wore, coupled with the massive weapons poking up from behind his shoulders made him seem even larger. Frankly it looked like he could eat the little shrink. She then noticed the face. It was him.

"That was taken after...well after the mission." Kelly said, staring ahead before returning to the present.

Angela could see it made her uncomfortable but couldn't help but touch the image of her father. The holos that her mom had were of his face or close-ups in his dress blues, but here was a picture of her daddy the protector. Even in the picture of two adults, he looked like a father protecting his daughter from the monsters.

"I'm sorry Angela." Kelly said, in a way atypical from most sessions.

"About what?" Angela said, popping out of her thoughts.

"That you never got a chance to meet him." Kelly said.

Angela almost felt her knees give way as she sat on the corner of the couch. The damn woman was doing it again, it felt like the doctor had her hands around her heart and was squeezing. Angela swallowed hard. "Yeah?" Was all she could muster.

"I've never met anyone quite like him. His military records said he was a one-man battering ram and could hold more than his own against any opponent. But as I got to know him, there was far more to it than just that. He cared about the people he served with and those under his command. Not just out of responsibility but something more, he invested himself into the lives of others. He cared. Even if he had to fight through a hundred enemies, you could fall back and he would catch you." Kelly finished her little story and could see that Angela was shaking.

"Angela, are you all right?" She said, reaching over and touching her shoulder.

"Sorry doctor. I...I have to go." Angela said, quickly leaving the room.

As she walked down the corridor, she tried to think of a place to hide and be alone. The problem was there were damn cameras everywhere. Her efforts to hold back the tears were getting harder and harder, finally running down the halls in full out sprint.

"Slow down, Miss Williams." Called out Lieutenant Rodriguez.

"Screw you!" Angela yelled as she tore down some stairs and found what she was looking for. A UT-47 was up on a stand, a power cable snaked over it. It was standing a good ten feet off the ground on its jacks with the door opened. This was no problem for Angela who used her biotics to jump inside. Punching in the console, she closed the door and locked it.

Outside the shuttle, some of the students were watching. "How much longer do you think she'll be in there until she figures out the roach is missing its eezo core." One of the engineering students said.

"Maybe she thinks she can power it herself." Another said, getting a laughter from the students but a slap on the head from the female instructor.

"Knock it off." The woman said, and then activated her Omni-Tool. "Um Jack...sorry to bother you, but one of your students locked herself in our practice shuttle."

"Thanks Octavia." Came the reply over the Omni-Tool.

"Okay students, class dismissed for the afternoon. But I want you to read up on chapter four of Element Zero Core Balancing for tomorrow. We'll do double practicum tomorrow."

Angela sat in the Kodiak, her eyes staring to get blurry from the tears welling up in her eyes. She sat there on the floor, her hair was now a dishevelled mess and her chin began to quiver. "Damn." She said, kicking the wall of the Kodiak from where she sat on the floor. "Damn, damn, damn!" She yelled, kicking the bulkhead each time, the biotics ensuring she left a heavy dent on the wall of the craft. Unable to hold in in any longer, she pulled her knees up to her chest and began to cry. Cries that turned into heavy sobs as she cried for a father she never knew.

Down below, Jack stood there. She almost jumped when she heard the pounding and saw the Kodiak sway on the stand. She gazed up at the shuttle, she knew the girl had some issues but completely missed the mark on what it was about.

"Jack, you stupid cunt." Jack muttered to herself. She just assumed that Angela would be fine with whatever crap she was dealing with because her old man was a Shepard. Sure Angela had her mom and people were always trying to be nice to her, but that was probably more to do with who her mom is and for those who knew, who her father was. It probably didn't help much that everyone kept reminding her of the great Commander Shepard, a constant reminder of what she did not have as opposed to what she did have.

"Hey, Williams. Open up." Jack finally said, when things quieted down. No response.

"I know you can hear me. Now open up or I'll slot you in for a two hour lesson from Dr. T'Soni on carbon dating in the Styx Theta Cluster." Jack said, and smiled when she heard the click of the door.

Jack easily raised herself up to the door by lifting herself with biotics and then sat down on the bench across from Angela who was sitting on the floor. She was sitting on the floor with her back to one wall and her hands to the sides. She was looking down, but Jack could see that tears were still dipping down her nose and chin onto her lap. Jack then looked at the opposite wall and raised an eyebrow in surprise at the big dent. That was a firewall, meant to protect the occupants if the eezo core blew apart.

"Damn, girl. You know Octavia's going to have a fit when she sees what you did to her shuttle." Jack said, trying to get the girl to talk.

"Tell her to bill my mom." Angela choked out.

"You going to tell me what the fu...what is going on?" Jack said, once again trying to get her to bring it out.

"Its nothing." Angela said, body still convulsing a little.

"Hurts like hell, doesn't it?" Jack said.

Angela didn't say a word and just nodded her head rapidly with her eyes squeezed shut and her jaw quivering.

"All these people telling stories of John, your own dad. A man you never met. Every time you hear the stories its like you've just been knifed and you just want them to shut the hell up." Jack said, beginning to understand what this kid was going through. "Come on." She stood up and urged Angela to stand up.

Surprisingly, she quickly stood up and hugged Jack fiercely, starting to cry even louder than before. Had it not been for Jack being a powerful biotic herself, the girl's hug laced with biotics would have done some bruising and maybe even cracked some ribs.

"It's just not fair." Angela muffled between her sobs.

"I know." Jack said, holding onto the girl.

"I just miss him so damn much." Angela forced out. After a few more minutes, the sobs slowed down and finally stopped. Angela let go of her instructor and sat down on one of the benches, looking down at the floor.

"I'm sorry." Angela mumbled.

"Sorry for what?" Jack asked, knowing where this was headed.

"Acting like such a wimp, crying over someone I never meant." Angela said.

"Fuck that." Jack responded. This elicited a hidden smile from Angela. "You're just like your old man. Stone cold to assholes, but when it comes to friends you wear your emotions on your sleeves. You may not have ever met him, but he was still your daddy, the most reliable man in a girl's life."

"Thanks." Angela said, looking up at Jack with those now warm, blue eyes.

Shit. Jack thought. She sure did have her old man's eyes and that wasn't just a lame cliche.

"Well, let's get out of here. I think I can get you out of another session with the shrink." Jack said, as the two of them descended onto the floor below.

"I'd like that." Angela said, wiping her eyes.

"Just remember, you tell anyone I do this sensitive crap and I will destroy you." Jack said, winking.

"What sensitive crap?" Angela said, smiling at her instructor.

"Good. Now did you ever hear the story how scale itch got onto the Normandy?" Jack said smiling.

Angela's eyes went wide as saucers. "Scale itch? Isn't that a Varren STD?"

"Yeah, anyway this is the unofficial story..."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"Burthing station, dis is Noormindy." Lieutenent Andropov said in his thick Ural accent.

"Normandy, you're not slated." The reply came back.

"We had an object collision, significant damage." Ashely said over the comms, knowing that Andropov was a good pilot, but sometimes hard to understand.

"Understood. Proceed to frigate berth three." Harbour control told them as they came in. Ashley looked outside the viewport to her right. Five of the other berths contained Normandy class frigates, a new navy concept was brought into play based on the success of the SR 2. While it proved a very expensive undertaking, these frigates were proved invaluable at times when the Alliance was stretched to the limit with manpower. No longer did Arcturus send out large, bulky patrols of the old Liverpool-class cruisers or the ageing Cannae-class frigates.

Now the new long-range Copenhagen-class cruisers would patrol an area and call in the rapid-response Normandy-class frigates to investigate and where necessary prosecute with extreme prejudice. The gamble was paying off in dividends. Privateers and mercenaries who looked to exploit a very weakened Systems Alliance after the war, found that this new thinking did not give them any breathing room in the Attican Traverse or the Skyllian Verge which by this time had been recognized by nearly every race as territory of the Alliance.

Which is what brought them to the Terminus System. Many of the smaller governments were beginning to see the benefits the Alliance could offer in such a chaotic time and were willing to grant the Alliance the concessions they required to maintain order in their sectors of space. That's not saying there hasn't been problems. While still abiding by the Treaty of Farixen, the Turian Hierarchy began expressing concerns of growing Alliance influence to the point where Sparatus even proposed that the treaty should extend to cruiser and frigate production.

Ashley's thoughts were interrupted when she felt the jolt of the ship docking. Not quite the deft hands that Joker had, that was for sure. She had grown so accustomed to excellence that good just didn't seem up to par like it did before. Ashley turned around to see someone with rank standing there with a security detail of sorts.

"Admiral." Ashley said, giving her crisp military salute although she was in her working blues and not her dress uniform.

"Spectre Williams. Care to tell me why you felt it necessary to damage Alliance property?" The Admiral said, not returning the salute but just folding his arms.

So your one of those Admirals, another Michailovich, Ashley thought to herself. "We're unsure of what caused the damage, here's my report." Ashley said, handing him the datapad. "The helmsman was relieved of his post and his first officer has taken the helm." Ashley finished, clasping her hands behind her back and standing at ease.

"I don't recall giving you the at ease, please remember what uniform it is you are wearing." The admiral said, looking at Ashley with disdain.

Ashley stood back at attention. She knew she could punch this pompous ass in the face and her Spectre status would keep her safe from insubordination charges. Yet she would probably loose her Alliance ship...and commission. So she gritted her teeth and let the beta male think he was an alpha. "Sorry sir, won't happen again."

"See to it that..." The admiral paused. "Is this correct? You just let the negligent helmsman return to his quarters? I don't care what the Council says, you will follow regulations as long as this ship flies Alliance colours." The Admiral continued, with a smug look on his face.

"Sir, Section 34-117 of the UCMJ states that 'until wrongdoing has been proven, an Alliance officer will not be detained but held in confinement to the ship in question.' We have not found any evidence so far to prove that Jo...Lieutenant Commander Moreau through wilful negligence or careless performance of duty collided with the object in question." Ashley stated, happy to beat the Admiral at his own game.

"Don't quote regs at me _Captian_. I know this helmsman and this accident was inevitable given his personality type. Now if you don't mind, I'll have a word with this helmsman and set things straight." The Admiral said and turned to head down the corridor of the ship.

"No you won't." Ashley said, and nodded to a pair of marines that blocked his approach to the CIC.

"Captain, you better explain yourself. That is if you want to avoid sharing a cell with Mr. Moreau." The Admiral stated.

"Admiral, Alliance regulations are very strict on this one. The only persons permitted to be in company with _Lieutenant Commander_ Moreau are representatives from the Judge Advocate General and his commanding officer." Ashley finished off, emphasizing Joker's rank to a man who seemed to have an axe to grind.

"Captain, I will not stand for this." The Admiral continued, his face red. Clearly, he was used to getting his way.

Ashley began to think of John and what he would do. She remembered that Garrus had even come up with a slogan, oblivious of past human cultural trends and sent her a bracelet that had the letters WWJD-What Would John Do? Or he did know, and it was just some sort of joke on Ashley. She could never tell with that Turian. "Admiral, that accident report you have has all the information you require. Thank-you for your visit. I will be more than happy to give you a tour of the ship once the inquiry is complete and our repairs are concluded. Thank you for your visit...Sir." Ashley said, standing at crisp salute once more just to hear the admiral grumble something before storming off the ship. Yep, that is what John would do.

Ashley walked up to one of the servicemen aboard the ship. "Ensign, I need you to ready the conference room for Lieutenant Commander Moreau's council. They are to have free access of the ship, if they require anything you are to be at their service. Questions?" Ashley finished.

"No ma'am." The man said, offering a salute and left to perform his duty.

Ashley then left for her quarters. Arriving at the loft, she looked around. One of the perks of commanding the Normandy. No other ship in the fleet had a captain's cabin like this. Even the ships that were based on the Normandy's design had done away with the loft and placed the captain's quarters on deck three, more in line with Alliance regs.

Ash looked back at the bathroom in the quarters, and the tension in her shoulders told her how much she needed a little time to herself. Turning on the hot water to the shower, she allowed the steam to build up before setting it to the temperature that she was looking for.

Unzipping and then peeling off her boots, Ash stood with her bare feet flat on the floor. It felt great for her feet to relax. She then looked down at her footwear. When she found the moron who thought high heeled boots were a good idea for a uniform she would murder said individual. She smiled at that moment, remembering that comment that she said to John all those years ago on the citadel. 'If you think you can get me in thigh-high boots and a tinfoil miniskirt, I want dinner first...sir'. She knew it was ridiculous, but part of her thought John must of had something to do with it.

When she finally finished disrobing and stepped into the shower, all the tension in her muscles relaxed. Her mind had been focused on her duties for so long, to be free of it for a moment allowed her to begin thinking of personal matters. Her last conversation with Angela did not end well, with her own daughter accusing her of things and abandoning her for the Alliance. That last comment about only loving the Alliance is what stung the most.

She remembered the hell she went through for the first year after John had died. She held out hope for him to survive, but when they finally pulled his body from the rubble then the glass ceiling shattered and her world came crashing down around her. Fortunately, she was able to blame most of it on the pregnancy and no one thought much about it. When Angela was old enough, Ashley returned to active service, having put her in primary care of Kahlee Sanders and Grissom Academy. She told herself the reason was that it was the only safe environment for her, some doctors told her as much. Something about how Angela had completely altered the grading scale for human biotic power, it was still something hard for her to believe but not surprising how close she was to that Mako that blew up, almost killing her and Garrus in the process and coating her in Eezo dust and radiation. So she sent her daughter away for Alliance specialists to deal with. She would still visit when she could but if she was honest she just couldn't stand to be around her, she reminded her too much about John.

Ashley stared at the floor of the shower for what seemed to be an eternity, the water washing over her body. At that point, she knew things had to change. Her daughter was being hurt because she could not bury John. The room still had all his model ships, and the aquarium was constantly re-stocked with only the fish that he had bought. The same went for that damn hamster. Ashley shook her head, she wasn't commanding a ship. This was a mausoleum.

Ashley finally stepped out of the shower and dried herself off. Stepping into more comfortable standard blues, she realized what she had to do. It was time for her to say goodbye. She sat down at her desk and opened up her terminal, connecting a link with Admiral von Braun.

"Hey Pete." Ashley said, looking at the greying Admiral.

"Williams? I knew you worked fast, but this seems quick. Even for you, kid." The man responded in kind.

"Not quite, we had an incident but we'll get to the bottom of it." Ashley said.

"So why the call?" Peter inquired.

"Just want to give you the heads up that I'll be requesting reassignment once I wrap this up." Ashley said, keeping her composure.

"I see, anywhere in particular?" Peter said, looking down at his console.

"Is Captain Esporanza still complaining about her babysitting job?" Ashley said.

"I see...well normally we don't place decorated line captains to guard stations unless they have done something stupid." Peter said.

"I can arrange that, sir." Ashley said.

"No need to captain. You do realize that this post will most likely torpedo your career. Don't count on your bars being replaced by eagles with a move like this. But I know why you're doing it and I respect that. I'll make a few calls and see what I can do. Just be certain this is what you want." Peter cautioned.

"It is." Ashley said, with firm resolution.

"Very well, get back out there and finish things up in the Pylos Nebula. VonBraun out." With that the comm channel closed.

"Well Ash, I guess that means you are resting from travel." Ashley said to herself as she began packing up the things that had been left out for so long.

* * *

Hiirel sat at his desk in his quarters. Sitting on top of his desk was a few items. The first and on the forefront was a list of the crew of the lost flak frigate. The only thing that brought him comfort was that she was staffed with a skeleton crew for the time being which meant that only twenty-two people met their end. The captain, twenty crewmembers and an academy trainee. In front of him was his console where he would inform the families of their loss. Since they did not die in battle against an enemy of Hiigara they would not be inscribed on the hall of remembrance. Which is what the final item on the desk was for, that being a bottle of brandy. It had gone from just taking the edge off to something a bit more.

The door to his cabin opened and Tamara stood in the doorway with her arms folded across her chest. "Captain? May I ask what you are doing?"

"Just trying to get my head around this one, Commander." Hiirel said.

"Looks like you're getting drunk." Tamara said, entering the cabin and taking a seat.

"I'm off duty." Hiirel said, looking back at the list.

"True, but what if you're people need you. Your experience is vital to us making it out of here." Tamara said, trying to reassure the captain.

"Three thousand, four hundred and ninety-seven." Hiirel said bitterly as he rose his glass again in salute to the list.

"Sir?" Tamara said, not liking where he was headed with this.

"The number of sons and daughters I have sent to their deaths." He finished. "May the martyrs of Kharak be with you." He concluded before downing the glass again and setting it down.

"Sir, there was no way anyone could have anticipated the accident. We will make sure it doesn't happen again." Tamara said, hoping to raise the spirits of the captain.

"I'm getting too old for pleasantries, Tamara. My oldest is the same age as the trainee that just got killed." Hiirel said, getting to what was bothering him.

"So you're worried about your son's safety. That sounds normal to me." Tamara commented and was surprised that was it.

"No, it goes deeper than that. We have a potential first contact scenario here. When we went to war with the Vaygr I was a young captain. Of my graduating class, do you know how many made it to retirement?" Hiirel said, looking to his XO.

"Fifteen. Fifteen out of a class of four hundred. If I mess this up and start a war how much more of our people will die?" Hiirel said, leaning back on his chair. "I have been at war for over thirty years. Thirty years, that's longer than you have been alive."

"Yes sir, but that experience will ensure we win out in future engagements." Tamara said, to which Hiirel looked at her.

"I am only one man, and my experience has been paid for in blood. When you have your command, expect no different. People will die and those deaths will go with you. I'm tired Tamara. Tired of going from one battle to the next, tired of fighting when I don't know why, and tired of having to lie to families." Hiirel said, gesturing to his console where he was trying to write the letters.

Tamara stood up, she wouldn't tell anyone what Hiirel said, but it was clear the old man was getting ready to haul down his flag. "Have the Scouts triple the patrol radius in counter rotating CAP and inform them to use their EMPs on any incoming craft." Hiirel said to her as she left.

Tamara smiled as she left, the old man was tired but he sure wasn't beaten.

* * *

"Beeeeeeep." Came the sound of a chime followed by a blue orb smashing into the offending object on the nightstand as it smashed into the wall and broke into a million pieces. "Crap" A voice mumbled from underneath the blankets followed by a groan.

"Angie broke another one." One of the girls in the room said, already dressed in her uniform.

Slowly Angela grumbled and rolled out of bed and walked into the bathroom, her hair was a mess and she was sore all over. Jack had helped her out when she needed it, but she was still a brutal instructor. Her head felt like it was in a vice and every muscle screamed in agony, even raising her arm to brush her teeth felt like she was curling fifty pound weights.

Angela tried to explain to her that she didn't need this since she had no intention on joining the military and just needed to control it. This was met with some comparison Angela as a soccer mom and turning the kid's coach into a pulpy mass if it was the wrong time of the month. This annoyed her to no end and so Jack had explained to her if she could knock her tattooed instructor on her ass then she could go on a lesser training regimen. The rest was just a biotic blur that ended with her waking up to that rude alarm.

"So Angie, I heard you went toe to toe with the psychotic biotic?" One of the girls said, plopping down on the counter next to her.

Angela looked up at her, she felt like death warmed over and just grunted as she returned to her chore of brushing her teeth. Finishing up, she disrobed and stepped into the shower which to her muscles felt like paradise.

"Got to say, I never knew you had it in ya!" The girl yelled to Angela over the noise of the shower.

"Why didn't you stop me, Melissa!" Angela yelled back.

"You looked pretty wound up, so I decided to stay out of it!" She yelled back.

"Well thanks for nothing." Angela said.

"What are you going to do for a uniform?" Melissa asked.

"What do you mean?" Angela wondered as she finished in the shower and dried herself in the stall.

"Well, you were going at it pretty hard. Your regular one is trashed." Melissa said.

"What?" Angela said, running back to her bed with a towel wrapped around her. Sure enough the pants and shirt looked like they had seen Armageddon. No way this would work.

"So what are you going to do?" Melissa said, standing behind her, with a grin on her face.

"I guess I'll just wear my regular clothes." Angela said.

"You mean the ones that are in laundry?" She asked again.

"Huh? They should be clean already." Angela said.

"Yeah, you broke a pressure regulator in that sparring match. The machines are busted." Melissa said with a look of pride, along with the other girls who were still doing their own thing but clearly listening in. "But don't worry, what kind of friend would I be if I didn't help you out, Angie?" Melissa finished, knowing full well how much it annoyed her. "You can borrow my informal blues."

"Hell no." Angela said, sitting on her bed and trying to figure out what to do as he looked at her tattered uniform, hell even her shoes looked like they had gone through a shredder.

"Don't see any other options, do you?" Melissa said, folding her arms as she stood in her dress blues.

"No." Angela mumbled, knowing this would be a humiliating day.

"Good. I'll get them for you." Melissa said as a grumbling Angela took them to the bathroom.

After getting changed she stepped out of the bathroom, seeing everyone else who shared the room with her had a camera. "Please God, no." Angela mumbled. Here she was, standing not only in a skirt with she despised, but an Alliance uniform instead of a generic one she was used to. She knew those damn pictures would be the bane of her existence for the rest of her life.

As she walked past her fellow students, some of them saluted her and along with Melissa and company walking in military march, she was just seething. It had to be that damn Patrica. She always had sophisticated plans for revenge. Who else knew she hated the Alliance as much as her?

For once, she was happy for a training session as she pounded the living piss out of the practice dummies, pretending they were everyone who had a hand in this. "Looking good class, at this rate you'll be ready for a frontline unit in no time." Miss Rodriguez said to the class.

"Like hell." Angela said, gritting her teeth as she shot out a throw that even surprised her. The blue orb shot into the practice dummy and was accompanied by multiple snaps as the dummy broke from the restraining cable and slammed into the back wall with the biotic energy with enough force to make the lights flicker. Angela put both hands over her mouth, she didn't even think that was possible.

"Patrica, what was the force readout on dummy six." Miss Rodriguez said somewhat weakly.

"Um...just over twelve hundred newtons before the sensors failed, ma'am." Trish replied. Angela looked around as the other students were staring at her.

"Okay, class is dismissed for now. Miss Williams, a word?" Rodriguez said as the others left.

"Sorry, I...I didn't mean to do that." Angela said, actually feeling bad for the destruction.

"Well, we didn't think it could be done." The instructor said. "Look, after lunch I want you to report to Commander Sanders."

"What for? You said to practise our throws, I practised my throws." Angela said defensively.

"Don't get worked up, we just want to talk about adjusting your training program." The instructor said, a look of concern in her eyes.

"Fine." Angela mumbled as she left the room and headed to Orion Hall for lunch. Sitting there was pure misery, it was better when everyone thought she was just a stuck up civilian that didn't belong and harassed her with passive aggressive insults. But now, it was like they were afraid of her.

As Angela was wolfing down her meal from that display of raw power, she was rudely interrupted by an alarm. "All personnel to safety areas. All personnel to safety areas." Angela rolled her eyes and took her plate up to the security room above the hall. Everyone else had scrambled in there as she walked in, leaning against the wall with her one leg folded up and her heel pressed against the wall she continued to eat.

"You could at least pretend to care about others, Williams." One of the other students said.

Angela was going to retort when she felt the station shake. The next thing she knew she saw an object crash through the ceiling and bury itself partway into the floor, obliterating the table she was sitting at moments ago.

"I wonder who is going to pay for that." One of the students murmured.

"Maybe whoever is inside." Another said. He had said what everyone else was sure of, it was an escape pod of sorts but it looked a little bulky and overbuilt. Once the kinetic barriers of the academy re-pressurized the hall, the students began milling around the pod.

"Now I know none of you are stupid enough to touch it." Jack said to her students, having just arrived on the scene.

"She's talking to you, Williams." The comment got a response of snickers from the others.

Angela was about to respond when the top of the object opened with a hiss and a boy who looked about 16 crawled out. He looked to be carrying a long rifle of some sort, it was like a grey, scopeless Mantis. At first he was pointing it at the students but then lowered it and climbed down. Oddly enough the weapon did not collapse when he shouldered it.

Angela noticed that the boy was wearing a strange uniform and then she noticed the bandages, he had been injured. The boy was panting for a moment, and then looked at Angela before smiling and speaking up. "Keeya nash dos brav. Fel tek nar ros."

This caused everyone to murmur. Angela looked down at her Omni-Tool to which read. Translation protocol not found.

"Who are you?" Angela asked.

The boy looked at her with confusion before he got onto one knee and pulled out his rifle again, leveling it at them with a look of panic in his eyes.

"Barriers! Now!" Jack ordered her students. Angela did the same which seemed to alarm him some more. Angela saw a blue flash and then felt a burning sensation. She felt to where it was hot and pulled away her hand, red with her own blood. "Asshole!" Angela heard in the fading background as she saw the boy collapse to the ground.

"Iivi taliis." She heard the boy say just as she lost consciousness.

"Jack, what happened?" Kahlee said as she entered the infirmary.

"Escape pod crashed into Orion Hall. That asshole shot one of my students." Jack said, clearly very pissed off with the biotic energy licking off her body. "This is what happens when you don't watch your barriers!" She yelled to the other students.

"Calm down Jack, who was shot?" Kahlee said, trying to get order to the situation.

"Williams." Jack muttered as she looked at the boy. "Hey, you. Who the fuck shoots a little girl?" Jack said, getting all riled up again.

"Jack, this isn't helping. Did you find out who he is?" Kahlee said, trying to calm down the instructor.

"I didn't get anything, I think he banged his head pretty hard. Started muttering gibberish." Jack said as she started to pace and then looked at her student now in the isolation room. "He shot my student. Mine." Jack said pointing her thumb at herself.

"You couldn't have known this would happen." Kahlee said.

Jack turned around and faced her students. "Listen up, we're going to the training room and you're going to work on your barriers until you can hold back an M-98 training round." Jack said, storming out of there as the other students groaned with displeasure.

Kahlee walked up the the viewing glass and looked at the young teenager now being tended on by the station's doctor. After a few minutes she looked to the boy on the gurney and the two attending guards. "Move him to one of the beds and restrain him. I want him guarded at all times, is that understood?" When she went to leave, she heard a clink on the floor. Looking down, it looked to be a silver metal case of sorts. Kahlee picked it up and noticed a strange symbol on the front, it appeared to be two blue circles, the smaller one seemed to have wings sprouted out of it and fanning out to flank the larger circle. It that was interesting, what was inside the case was more so. There was a picture of the boy's face, he was wearing a cap of sorts, clearly a military uniform. Yet she didn't know the language. "Make...make sure you you inform me when he wakes up." Kahlee said as she left, this incident was getting stranger and stranger. For now she would just inform Captain Williams of what had happened, perhaps she would have an idea where to go from here.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Andriis slowly began to awake, his head was throbbing and he just felt sore all over. As his focus began to come back, he started to recall what had happened. The pod began to warn of a proximity alert and before he knew it, he crashed into an object of sorts. He remembered stumbling out of the pod to be met with Hiigarans, which caused him to shoulder his rifle. He began explaining, only to be interrupted by that girl in blue who didn't speak galactic standard. Who doesn't speak galactic standard? Everything happened so fast after that, he readied his rifle and everything was a blur. Did he shoot her?

Andriis went to move, but found he couldn't. When his eyes finally focused he could see he had some restraints around his ankles and wrists. Andriis looked up from the bed he was lying on the the man sitting next to him. "Hey you, release me. I am an officer of the Hiigaran Navy." Andriis said, well technically he was an officer in training but the Tenehauser Agreement should get him out of here.

The man looked at him before speaking into his wrist. Must be some sort of communicator. Again this man didn't speak Galactic Standard, how could a species function without galactic standard? He saw the guard leave the room and he was alone. He tried pulling at the restraints, but that proved futile. A few minutes later, another one came in who looked to be wearing a military uniform and looked to be an officer. Finally some answers, thought Andriis.

"Officer, you are currently in violation of about six different treaties between the Empire and the Fifth Alliance." Andriis said, hoping to intimidate these people into at least calling for one of their ambassadors. Yet when the woman gave him a surprised look, Andriis just let his head drop on the pillow. "Great. I am surrounded by illiterates."

* * *

To say that Kahlee was shocked was a severe understatement. This was not just some babbling as Jack had thought, this was indeed a first contact scenario. The fact that this young man looked entirely human made the situation that much more unnerving. "Liara, can you come to the infirmity?" Kahlee said on her communicator. Perhaps it was just a case of a remote colony that lost contact and was speaking an obscure dialect of a dead language. If anyone would know, it would be the Prothean expert.

Moments later, Liara entered the room. The look of shock in the boy's eyes was clear that he had never seen an Asari before but still he hid his mannerisms well. This at least confirmed her suspicions from the data feeds that he had military training. The way he held that weapon and handled himself in spite of his injuries screamed of training, but if that is the case, then why did he fire?

"Commander Sanders, is this the boy?" Liara asked.

"That's him." Kahlee replied, seeing she was somewhat displeased.

"I see. Do you know why he's never seen an Asari before?" Liara questioned, having picked up on it too.

"Here, I want you to tell me what language this is. I'm assuming its another case of one of those missing colonies." Kahlee said, giving Liara both the metal case with the inscription and the audio file of the recent conversation.

Liara listened with intent, here eyes started to dart back and forth like she was thinking and then opened the case only to drop it on the floor a few minutes later.

"By the Goddess, Kahlee. He's speaking an alien language." Liara exclaimed, with a look of both shock and excitement.

"Define alien." Kahlee said, a look of concern spreading on her face.

"Both the spoken and written language does not match that of any current species or past species we have on record. Even the structure is too varied to even be a derivative. Its a completely new language." Liara said, getting very excited. "We must inform the council!"

"One step at a time, he's still..."Kahlee began.

"Were you going to say human? Because despite appearances, he is not." Liara said, but it was enough to calm her down somewhat.

"Liara, we both know that given the current state of affairs that telling people about him might make things worse off." Kahlee suggested.

"Kahlee, are you suggesting the Alliance cover this up?" Liara said, very much upset that this was coming from her. Although a part of her knew full well that she could bring things into the light.

"Nothing of the sort. But what do we know? A human speaking an unknown language and we're going to alert the Council of a first contact scenario based on an escape pod crashing into Grissom Academy?" Kahlee said, and looked back at the boy in the bed. "How about we just find out who he is and where he comes from?"

"Sorry Kahlee, I just got excited is all." Liara said, approaching the young man and untying his restraints.

"Liara, what do you think you are doing?" Kahlee asked in a strict tone.

"He won't trust us if he believes we are his captors." Liara said continuing, and based on the lack of action on Kahlee's part she agreed to it.

Kahlee watched as the boy sat up in the bed, clearly going over the situation in his mind. Liara looked at the boy and spoke up, pointing to herself. "Liara T'Soni." She then pointed to Kahlee. "Kahlee Sanders." Liara then pointed to him.

"Andriis S'jet." The young man said. Liara smiled and then looked to Kahlee before pulling out a datapad and holding it up to herself. The image was that of a planet. "Thessia." She said before holding the datapad in front of Kahlee. "Earth." She said and handed the datapad to the boy.

He stared at the datapad for a moment before he looked up again. "Hiigara." Liara then pushed a button on the pad, revealing a galaxy map. To which the boy just shook his head.

"Well I guess that's something." Liara said, getting up and waving goodbye to which the boy just put his hand over his heart and bowed slightly.

Laira then talked with Kahlee in the hall. "Satisfied?"

"What? All we know is his name and his homeworld and that is only if we trust that he didn't lie to us." Kahlee resplied.

"I could just meld minds with him an find out." Liara suggested.

"Thank-you Liara, but no. Like you said, there are too many unknowns. If he is indeed an alien, we might not know what impact such an action would have."

"So how is Angela doing?" Liara said, switching to the subject that was really bothering her.

"We're not sure yet, that weapon did significant injury." Kahlee said.

"Well, I hope she makes it." Liara said.

"So do I." Kahlee said, somewhat distracted.

"Does her mother know?" Liara asked, concerned at how she would take it.

"Yes, I told her that her daughter was injured and she should head to the academy ASAP." Kahlee said.

"No details?" Liara questioned the director, knowing this was very unlike her.

"Would you want to be the one to tell Captain Ashley Williams that her only daughter and living memory of Shepard was shot on an Alliance facility under your care?" Kahlee mentioned, everyone knowing the legendary temper of Ashley Williams.

"Perhaps not." Liara said. "When is she coming."

"She'll be here within the hour." Kahlee said, unaware that the Shadow Broker had already disseminated that information to Captain Williams.

* * *

"So Sparks, was that loony enough for you?" Telkas said over the comms as their scout was running another patrol.

"That was pretty nuts, to be honest. Reminded me of the time I disabled a Vaygr big stick single handed." Kira responded.

"Yeah, and I'm the Sajuuk-Khar." Jona said as they flew along, eliciting laughter from Telkas.

"I swear its true. As true as Kiith S'jet is arrogant and Kiith Manaan has a death wish." Kira said, defensively.

"Fine, so you guys have any idea why in the hell that guy decided to charge a fighter screen?" I mean it was obvious he could detect us. Jona said, continuing the original conversation.

"Maybe he just was trying to provoke us. You know, start a fight and claim that ramming move was an accident." Telkas suggested.

"Provocation or not, if he would have continued on his course, he would have flown right into the tail end of our carrier and put an end to any more tricks like that." Kira piped in.

"Well, rumor has it that they used an alternate way to detect us and they still couldn't actually see us." Jona said.

"Damn, I would have hated to be that gunship crew." Telkas said.

"Or that frigate crew. Where the hell does the captain get off in sending out a crew in an unnamed ship?" Kira piped up.

"Watch it, Sparks." Telkas warned.

"Come on Iron, we're all thinking it. You never deploy and unnamed ship. Its bad luck." Kira continued.

"No such thing as bad luck, Sparks. It was an accident. Plain and simple." Jona said.

"I don't buy that I think..." Kira began.

"Sparks, drop it or you'll be telling what you think to Somtaaw miners as you operate your mineral drill. Is that clear?" Telkas said.

"Yeah, its clear." Kira shrugged off.

"I said, is that clear?" He said a bit louder.

"Crystal...sir." Kira finished as they continued their patrol.

* * *

"Lieutenant Commander Moreau? I am Captain Monica deVries. I'll be your council for this hearing." The woman in the smart officer's uniform said, sitting down and setting her officer's cap down on the table.

"Thanks Captain." Joker said quietly as he sat at the conference room table.

"Jeff. You don't mind me calling you Jeff do you?" Monica asked.

"I'd prefer either Moreau or Joker." Joker said, only one person normally called him Jeff.

"Well...Joker. You should know that the evidence against you is shoddy at best." Monica began.

"Of course it is Monica, because I didn't screw up. I checked the scope, we were clear." Joker said, very much frustrated.

"Well, we're going to have to explain to a panel of officers how you damaged an Alliance vessel so badly. Now, according to the findings, you hit a...turret?" Monica said in a surprised tone.

"A what?" Joker said, taking the datapad out of her hands. Sure enough the image was that of a turret and the data below it was even more strange. "A coil gun? Who uses those?" Joker said even more confused.

"I'm sorry, you lost me Joker." Monica said.

Joker sighed. A coil gun. Its a means of magnetically accelerating a projectile when you don't have the length for a proper rail gun." Joker said, staring at the picture.

"I thought that's what mass effect fields were fo..." Monica began only to be cut off by Joker again.

"That's just it, they are. We only were beginning to use coil guns as proof of concept until we caught onto Mass Effect technology." Joker said, looking at it.

"A dead relic?" Monica suggested.

"Out in that nebula, the chances of that are..." Joker began and was interrupted for a change.

"Lieutenant Traynor, what brings you here?" Joker asked, seeing the little brit.

"Saving your career, Leftenant Commander." She said, and plugging a video and then displaying it on the screen. "Look familiar?"

"Don't remind me." Joker mumbled.

"Well, I was analyzing the data and it just didn't make sense. Why did the fog radar not give a warning? Please don't tell me the gear was bad, I checked." Samantha continued. "So I slowed down the video and played it frame by frame. You see it?"

"See what?" Monica asked.

Samantha shook her head and then zoomed it in, pointing at what she was talking about. "Isn't it incredible?" She said, nearly jumping with joy.

"Impossible." Joker said with his mouth agape.

"I'm still lost." Monica said.

"Here, watch this. You see how the inlet starts peeling back. But why? What's in front of it?" Samantha urged.

"I don't see anything." Monica stated.

"Exactly, now keep watching." Traynor said, flipping it by frame by frame. Finally, one of the frames showed a shower of sparks before the turret appeared out of nowhere and lodged into the Normandy's inlet.

"Wait, what is that?" The lawyer asked, starting to see what the tech experts already knew.

"You're looking at the first practical application of active camouflage." Samantha said.

"Wait, you're saying this object was hidden, visually?" Monica asked.

"Precisely. I..." Traynor began before three officers entered the room.

"Please hand over the data Lieutenant Traynor." One of the men said, showing his identification.

"Lieutenant Commander Moreau, it appears that we were all mistaken. Your ship suffered from some undetected metal fatigue during last inspection causing the damage. You are hereby returned to active duty with the Navy's sincerest apologies." The man who looked to be in charge said.

"What? No, we hit something that could hide itself from visual sight." Joker protested.

"No Lieutenant Commander, you suffered an internal engine failure. And we were never here." The man said, before leaving with the others and the data.

"Damn spooks, wait till Ash hears about this." Joker mumbled as Monica closed her briefcase.

"She's not here." Samantha said.

"What do you mean, 'not here'? Where is she?" Joker asked.

"Took a transport to Grissom Academy. Apparently there was some issue with her daughter." Samantha said, and let Monica go as she left the room.

"Oh man, a teenage biotic. I'm sure glad I don't have to deal with that." Joker said, smiling.

"What do you mean?" Traynor asked.

"Have you ever seen Ash's kid?" Joker said.

"No, can't say I have." Traynor replied, happy to see Joker in a good mood again.

"Well put it this way. Shepard's iron will, Ahsley's temper and Jack's biotics." Joker finished.

Traynor squeezed her eyes shut and scrunched her nose, breathing in through her teeth. "Ouch."

"Yeah, I'm just happy she decided to let Anderson's significant other take care of her. One bad joke and I would have ended up buried in my own travel mug." Joker said, laughing a bit at his own joke.

"Wait, you mean the late David Anderson?" Samantha asked.

"What? Ah crap." Joker said, shaking his head.

* * *

Angela woke to feeling a warmth on her face and could hear birds singing outside. "Did you sleep well, Angie?" Wait? Where was the sunlight coming from, and the birds and who was this using that annoying pet name? Angela asked as she woke up. Looking up she was a mountain of a man sitting on a chair beside her, well at least she assumed there was a chair as she couldn't see it. He was wearing a suit and tie, but the face was what drew her the most. He had short, brown hair with strong jaw features behind a clean, shaven face. His nose was a little flat and had a deep scar on his right cheek. But those eyes, those deep blue eyes. No, it couldn't be.

"Daddy?" She said weakly, staring in disbelief.

"Well who else would it be? I would be a lousy dad if I let any man into your room, wouldn't I?" John said smiling.

Angela did not know what to think as she rubbed the back of her neck. Wait, the scar it was gone! She flexed her hand and yet nothing, no blue hue, not even a tingle on her spine. John looked at her oddly. "Is something wrong?" He asked.

"No, its just.." She began.

"John, Angela! Breakfast is ready!" Angela heard from outside the door.

"Well, we should go, or your mother will bring down the hammer. You know how she can be." John said.

"Oh I know." Angela said, she did not even care if it was a dream at this point.

* * *

"You had one fucking job you useless Spick!" Ashley yelled as she looked at the man now lying on the floor, that she could call him a man was a stretch.

"Williams, have you lost your goddamned mind?" Captain Esproanza said, as he coughed out some blood from the powerful right hook.

"You're here to protect these kids from any more attacks after that Cerberus clusterfuck and what happens? The only one ever to attack, you let him waltz right into Orion Hall and shoot Angela. My Angela!" Ashley screamed like a complete lunatic. "I hope you made peace with your fucking maker, Esporanza." Ashley said as she pulled out her Carnifex and pointed it at him.

Ashley didn't even notice Liara and Jack walk into the door that she kicked open. "Ashley, put the gun down." Liara said, trying to calm the enraged woman down.

"Liara is right, think about Angela. You'll be no good if you're in prison." Jack said.

"I'm a Spectre, all I have to say is that he was part of some conspiracy. I can tie him to any cold case I want. No questions asked." Ashley said, the fire in her eyes having not waned.

"You think John would want that?" Liara said. This got Ashley's attention as she looked back, seeing a security team behind Jack and Liara who were trying to talk her down. No, John would be standing between of and in front of Jack and Liara. She could almost see him standing there in his armor, no weapon drawn. Just those blue eyes looking at her with an outstretched hand, softly pleading for her to give him the gun.

Ashley's vision began to get a little blurry as she blinked quickly to clear her eyes. Setting the safety, she holstered her weapon and then kicked the nearby desk. "Damn." She muttered. "Damn, damn, damn!" She yelled out, kicking the desk three more times as she did so.

"Do you want to go see her?" Liara asked.

"Yeah." Ashley said, as she left the room with Liara's arm around her shoulder.

Captain Esproanza was about to get up and speak when Jack knelt down and whispered in his ear. "If you value your fucking life, I would stay on the ground with your fucking mouth shut." With that, Jack got up and followed the other two out the door, heading to the infirmary.

"So doctor, how is she?" Liara asked the doctor who just got out of isolation.

"She is stable, it was touch and go but we took care of the damage. The heat did a significant amount of damage. She is in a medical induced coma to accelerate the healing. She'll be out for the next few days." The doctor finished, as Ashley almost collapsed.

"Sorry doctor, but the heat?" Jack asked, having joined the other two.

"Yeah, I am going to hate the individual who invented that weapon." The doctor said.

"I'm still not following you." Jack said.

"Well that energy weapon. The reason your student's barriers were useless against it. No projectile or mass makes sure the energy passes right through. Blast enters body, cauterizes flesh and burns organs. Nasty little weapon, she never would have made it if it was aimed somewhere more vital." The doctor said and went back to finishing his tasks.

"She'll have to believe me now." Liara said softly.

"Believe who?" Ashley asked her friend.

"We learned that the name of the person who did this is Andriis S'jet and is from a planet called Hiigara. We don't know where that is, just that he speaks a completely unknown language." Liara said.

"So, my daughter got shot by ET?" Ashley said, clearly wanting to give this guy a piece of her mind.

"He's right there." Jack blurted out.

Ashley stormed up to the bed and looked at him with shock. He was human! A kid as well. "Listen up you little shit. You shot the daughter of the wrong family. Do you hear me?" Ashley said, her rage building up.

Seeing the confusion on his face, she walked up to him. "Ah hell." She said as she pulled out a holo when Angela was young and she was holding her. She pointed to Angela in the picture and then to the isolation room where she was now lying and then pointed to the image of herself then pointing at herself. As she saw him realize what she was saying and a look of fear came across his eyes. With that, she picked him up by the collar, almost hoisting him out of the bed with her nose only inches from his. "That's right you little shit. Your ass is mine. I fucking own you now!" Ashley said, releasing one hand and punching him hard in the stomach before releasing him and storming out of the room leaving him to curl in a ball on the bed, gasping for air.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Kahlee Sanders was in her office with the doors sealed, talking on a secure channel to the defence committee. "So, that's what you have so far?" One of them said to her.

"That's correct sir." Kahlee said, surprised that their reactions were so calm.

"I see, well this fits with what we thought." Another admiral stated.

"You mean you know?" Kahlee was not a fan of being left in the dark.

"We had an incident with one of our frigates in the Pylos Nebula. Long story short, we had our suspicions when you called." The first one said.

"So I assume that you'll be sending someone to pick him up?" Kahlee said, not sure what to do with him.

"Not right away."

"Well, what am I supposed to do with him?" Kahlee said, not impressed that someone who had injured one of her students would be here a little while longer.

"Don't worry, we have a cover story. His name is Andrew Smith, he was aboard the MSV Katana when her eezo core went critical. The life pod he was in had suffered a leak and along with the eezo exposure was the reason for the incident on the station. We have all the paperwork as if he is one of your engineering students." They concluded.

"You've got to be joking." Kahlee muttered.

"Commander, consider this a standing order." A committee member warned.

"Fine, but when this blows up in your face I am going to make sure my students are safe no matter what the cost." Kahlee said and then cut the channel. She rubbed her eyes as she leaned back in her chair, not sure what to make of this. She didn't like it, but she had her orders. The kid would be staying temporarily, but she would keep him away from the other students. The downside of the Alliance, and now to explain this to the angry mother panther she had on her academy.

* * *

"Like Hell!" Ashley roared as Kahlee tried to calm her down.

"Look, I don't like this either Ashley." Kahlee said, she couldn't even imagine how she was feeling.

"He tried to kill my daughter!" Ashley said, getting more wound up.

"Did he?" Kahlee asked.

"Whose side are you on?" Ashley accused.

"Think about it, he's just a kid who ended up in a strange place with people speaking a strange language. I think the only ones to blame, are the idiots who thought giving a kid a gun was a great idea." Kahlee said, seeing her friend start to compose herself better.

"Fine, you just keep him the hell away from my daughter and I." Ashley said as she left the room.

Kahlee sighed as she left the room where Ashley was staying and headed down to the infirmary. Liara was there with him, clearly working to find out more. She turned around when she saw Kahlee had entered the room. "This is fascinating, their language seems to consist of forty-six characters and from what I can tell, the basic sound structure is even more complex!" Liara exclaimed.

"So, Liara. Don't you have to leave tomorrow?" Kahlee asked.

"Not really, most of my work can be handled remotely." She said cryptically.

"Well, you should know that we are having him moved the the axillary." Kahlee said.

"What? Why?" Liara asked.

"The Alliance wants to keep him here for now, but I don't want him close to my students." Kahlee explained.

"But...I see your point. Although it might make it more difficult for him to open up if he thinks he's a captive." Liara said.

"That may be, but he still shot one of my students. I..." Kahlee began when she started hearing some crashing coming from the isolation room.

* * *

Angela was sitting at the breakfast table, listening to her dad talking about his job. "So Petersen was leading the meeting, making all sorts of claims about how this new tech will work until I interrupted him and said 'yeah because it worked so great for the friggin husks.'" This comment got him an elbow from his wife.

"John! Watch your language in front of your daughter." Giving him a look.

"Don't worry mom, I know what words I shouldn't repeat." Angela said.

"That's right, you know how to talk. After all, you're a Shepard." John said, beaming with pride.

"So honey, you seemed a little off this morning and I thought I heard sounds from your room last night." John said, looking at his daughter and changing the conversation.

"What was it sunshine?" Ashley said, taking a break in her cooking to sit on the other side of her daughter and gently rub her back.

"Just a bad dream. Its pretty stupid." Angela said, sort of mumbling as she looked down.

"Angie, you never have to be ashamed. Hold your head high, we love you no matter what." John said, gently tilting her head up by the chin with those strong, and yet gentle hands.

"Okay, but you have to swear that you won't be upset. Or laugh." Angela said to her father.

"I swear." He said, smiling at her.

"Well, mom was a captain in the Alliance." Angela began.

John looked up at his wife. "Yes Captain Shepard ma'am. Please don't put me in the brig, I'll swab the decks better ma'am." This got a laugh from Ashley and a scowl from Angela.

"Okay, no more jokes." John said, raising his hands in surrender.

"And daddy was a war hero. The legendary Commander Shepard." Angela continued. "But you two were not married, at least not yet. Anyways, dad died at the end of the war fighting the Reapers...and mom had to raise me alone when she found out she was pregnant. Something happened to mom and I turned out to be one of those biotic children and she couldn't take care of me so left me at that academy they have in space." Angela finished, her eyes filling with tears as she told the horrible tale.

"Come here, sweetheart." John said, shifting his daughter onto his lap and holding her tight. "Your mom and I are married and safe, the war ended and we were safe in our shelters. That's why we pay taxes to UNAS government. Listen to me, your mom loves you, I love you." John said, just as the doorbell rang.

"Now who could that be on a Saturday morning?" John asked as he got up and let Angela sit down next to her mom.

"Don't worry sunshine. Your dad would never do something as stupid as join the Alliance, he loves his family too much." Ashley said warmly to her daughter.

"What about you." Angela said, smiling.

"Me? Are you kidding? I'd probably end up shooting myself in the foot. Besides, who would drive you to volleyball practice and all those other sports you play at school?" Ashley said.

"Well, at least if you did then dad would cook more." Angela said and began laughing.

"What do we have here? A comedian?" Ashley said in fake insult. "Hey John! Your smart-Alic daughter doesn't like my cooking. John?"

Angela could hear some people talking and shuffling of feet, and got up to follow her mom to the front door. "Angela, go to your room." Her mom said sternly.

Yet Angela followed her mom to the door, there she saw two men in uniform dragging her cuffed and unconscious dad to a waiting black car. They were Alliance uniforms, she could tell by the berets they wore. "Release my husband, you fascist pig!" Ashley screamed at one of the men, who just laughed before backhanding her which sent her sprawling across the front lawn.

Angela took the butcher knife out of the block and ran out of the house, coming after the man in uniform. "Get your hands off him!" She yelled.

The man produced a gun from a holster which made Angela freeze in her tracks. He gave a cruel little smile before lowering the gun and firing it. Angela felt the pain, and the cold as she crumpled down on the paving stones.

"You bastards!" Angela heard her mom yell as she cradled her daughter.

"Angela, please wake up. You have to wake up." Ashley sobbed over her daughter.

"Angela? Miss Williams? Can you hear me?" Angela heard another voice, it was male but it wasn't her father. As her eyes adjusted to the light, she saw a man who was dressed like a doctor with the mask and everything. She then noticed the chevron on the wall. This was an Alliance facility.

She pushed the man's hands off her as she groaned, feeling pain in her stomach. "What did you do with my daddy." She said weakly at first.

"Angela, you're recovering from an injury." The man said.

"Shut up, I want to see my dad." Angela said more forcefully.

"Angela, your father perished in the war." The doctor said with a confused tone.

"He died?" Angela began and muttered. "You bastard."

"I'm sorry?" The doctor said.

"You bastard!" She yelled as a torrent of bluish-black energy came out of her, slamming the doctor into the back counter with a crash. She looked down and her and felt that tingle on her spine. "What the hell did you do to me!?" She screamed as she tried so get up, stopped by a stabbing pain in her stomach. The doctor on the floor weakly reached up and hit a red button .

Soon an alarm could be heard with a voice blaring. "Security team to isolation. Security team to isolation."

Angela was furious. "Where is my daddy, what the hell did you do with my daddy!" She screamed as objects began to float all around her. Angela saw the door open and an Asari and a tattooed woman come through the door and approach her, holding her arms down. Somehow immune to her energy. A moment later, she felt a prick on her neck and with tears in her eyes pleaded with the two. "Please, I just want my daddy and go home." Angela's eyes felt heavy as she saw the world around her go dark.

* * *

Ashley was waiting outside, the guards would not let her in until Jack stormed out of the room. "Williams, straighten out that shit with your daughter or she's done here." Jack growled as she left the infirmary and stormed out after having grabbed Kahlee by the collar.

"Jack, what's gotten into you?" Kahlee said, after Jack had taken her into an empty classroom and shut the door.

"I'm not fucking doing that again. Do you understand?" Jack growled.

"Not doing what again?" Kahlee said, not quite up to speed.

"She made the same fucking pleas that I did when I was little. I saw the look in those eyes, she was scared and felt trapped." Jack said, continuing to vent.

Kahlee began to understand. "I'm sorry Jack, the doctor should have informed us when he was lifting her out of the coma. It can be very confusing and overwhelming."

"Its not just the personal shit." Jack said.

"Its not?" Kahlee asked.

"That kid scares the fucking shit out of me." Jack said as she walked over to the viewport and looked out into space. "The amount of biotic energy that kid was spitting out was damn intense. Someone needs to sort out that kid's headspace before someone dies from one of her episodes."

"So, you think she is too dangerous for the program?" Kahlee asked.

"Hell yeah, but that doesn't mean your sending one of my guys out of here. For now, make sure an advanced biotic has eyes on her at all times so we can head this off at the pass." Jack said, and then looked over at Kahlee. "Also, get her mom transferred to this detail. I don't care if you have to bust her down to private and have her guarding the water cooler, we're pulling her out of that private hell she's living in."

* * *

Andriis heard all the commotion and saw the running and the girl in blue's mother. To be honest, he had never been so scared as when she came up and started screaming in that foreign tongue. The picture explained it all, he felt like he was just cornered by a Skaal-Fa after having killed its young. That was only the beginning of his problems, from what he saw, somehow he had ended up in another galaxy but wasn't sure if it was from the gate or the malfunction. Already he had encountered a species he had not seen before, they exchanged each other's alphabet and hoped to learn their language as quickly as he could. He might be an academy trainee, but he knew his duty was to gather as much itel on these people as he could and the submit it to his Kiith-Sa when he returned home. There was also an issue of honour to consider, he had caused injury in what he now realized was a banner of peace. He would have to make that right.

* * *

Hiirel had returned to the bridge, having had a moment to clear his head and get back into the 'game'. "Attention on deck!" Tamara said, as the command crew stood up from their seat and gave a crisp salute in response.

"At ease." Hiirel said, sitting down at his chair. "Status report." He said looking at his people, as they seemed to have things well at hand.

"Sir, engineering has finished all repairs on the ship and production arrays report that resource cells are at full capacity." One reported.

"How are we sitting on production output and capacity?" Hiirel asked the young man.

"We should be able to repair and maintain all the squadrons for 72 hours of sustained combat. Proximity sensor pods are filled to capacity. One hundred probes per pod." He said, sitting down after concluding his report.

"Fleet Intelligence, what is the readiness of our ships." Hiirel said, staring at the green rectangle and sphere in the holographic interface, representing his carrier.

"All fighter and corvette squadrons are manned and ready, we can have everyone in the air in under ninety seconds. Frigate 21954 is also ready for deployment." The officer reported.

"Well, that won't do. 21954 is to be re-designated as Soban's Shield before it leaves its berth." Hiirel said, seeing the approving nod of the crew. "Sensors officer, give me three sphere layers of proximity sensors. I want eyes on every square metre of space within one hundred clicks of this ship. Someone get the minelayer team on the horn." Hiirel said as he watched his people work like a well-oiled machine.

"Sir, I have him for you." Came the reply.

"Commander, are you there?" Hiirel said.

"Yeah, I copy command. What do you need." The reply came.

Hiirel smiled at this, minelayer operators tended to come from the working class neighborhoods. A little rough around the edges, but given what they had to do, and how well they did it...well everyone looked the other way.

"I don't want someone else sneaking up on us, can you help me out?" Hiirel asked over the comms.

"Not a problem, we'll have a high density minefield set up in under an hour. If that ramming frigate so much as farts out here, is ass will be blown sky-high." Was the answer to his command.

"Good to hear." Hiirel said, and punched in another link.

"Orders sir?" Came the sound of the woman's voice on the other end.

"Lieutenant, I want you to deploy your squadrons on patrol, I'm sending out our interceptors and Kiitum Team to be your eyes and your shield. Just do me a favor and not get too close to Kiitum Two, I'd hate for you to lose any more teeth." Hiirel said.

"Sir." Came the response and the comms were closed.

"Okay people here's the plan. We are going to send Soban's Shield out on patrol while the strike craft guard the carrier. Make no mistake, these people are aggressive and will most likely try to provoke us again. Let's show these aliens why it is a bad idea to provoke the children of Sajuuk." Hiirel said, receiving cheers to his comment.

Hiirel sat back in his chair and clasped his fingertips together in a point. "Your move." He said as he watched the tactical display, more and more blue spheres appearing as he finally began to have eyes on the battlefield. As well, just leaving the carrier was a green dot, as Soban's Shield began its patrol.

"Finally, we're on a mission I like." Kira said over the squadron's localized comms.

"You don't like defending our home?" Jona replied, knowing how that would hit a nerve with any Hiigaran, regardless of Kiith.

"You got something to say, Radar?" Kira said, with tension in her voice.

"Calm down Sparks, I'm sure he didn't mean anything by it." Telkas said, figuring it was just a bad choice of words.

"What I meant was, you don't like defensive operations?" Jona said, trying to smooth things over.

"If we weren't pussy-footing around and set a larger patrol pattern instead of trusting a fancy cloaking system, this would never have happened." Kira said, as the Scouts took another sharp bank in their patrol route.

"Kiitum Team, slow down. I hate to remind you, but your job is to escort us." Another voice came over the wider comms.

"What's wrong? Your tugboat can't keep up?" Kira said in a condescending tone.

"Two, play nice." Telkas said to Kira over the comms.

"Fine. All right, we're slowing down to sixty percent thrust. Try to keep up." Kira said, cutting the comms.

"So Sparks, tell me how much you like this mission." Jona said.

"Well, babysitting aside. We get to go out there and look for trouble." Kira said, as they began to pick up clutter on the radar.

"Bomber wing, this is Kiitum Three. Bring it back, we are coming up on something here. Confirmed, we have debris out here, set your vectors to 215 and 30 degreee down angle." Jona said over the comms.

"Thanks Radar, we owe you one." The female voice of the bomber squadron said.

"Thank-you Radar. I love you, always preferred the name LiirHra anyways." Kira said in a mocking tone, making kissing noises.

"Knock it off Sparks, were starting to come into the clear." Telkas said, seeing the blackness of space. "Huh, don't think I've ever been in this sector before."

"Boss, you're not going to believe this." Radar said, excited over the comms.

"What is it?" Kira asked, curious as well.

"I tried running a fix, and my navigation computer churned out an unknown star fix error." Jona said.

"We've been flying in a nebula, Radar." Telkas groaned.

"It's more than that, adjust your optical scanner up eighty and left thirty-eight." Jona said.

Telkas did as he was instructed and zoomed in at the star cluster. "No, it can't be." He muttered.

"That would explain the deceleration damage after making a jump like that." Jona explained.

"So, are the eggheads going to tell me what the hell is going on?" Kira said, frustrated with the conversation.

"That galaxy you're looking at, its ours." Telkas said.

"What?" Kira said, shocked at this.

"You heard the boss, that Progenitor gate jumped us to another galaxy." Radar said.

"Okay, I'm scrubbing this mission. Back to the carrier, this is something I have to phone in." Telkas said, turning the fighter group around and back into the nebula.

* * *

"Hey boss, looks like we got a freighter." A Batarian said, looking at his console in an aged warship.

"Out here? Well I guess our luck is holding out." The Batarian commander said, heading over to the man's console. "Any ID on it?"

"Nothing, we got some funny signatures though." He replied to his captain.

"So smugglers?" The commander said, raising all sets of his eyebrows.

"Sure looks like it. They seem to have a pair of guns welded to it, one on top and one on the bottom. But no kinetic barriers." The Batarian at the console said and turned around to look at his commander. "We going in?"

"Of course, that ship did not pay the fees." The commander said, knowing this was going to be an easy score.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Angela woke hours later, her head was hurting as she felt the dim lights of the room. It was clearly nighttime on the station, she went to rub the back of her neck in an attempt to soothe the sensation, only to find she couldn't move her wrists. She began tugging at them, until she felt a searing pain in her stomach.

"Hey, Angela. Take it easy." Angela heard the voice of someone she recognized. It was one of the advanced students, she didn't talk much to her but didn't have a problem with her.

"Josephine, what's going on?" Angela said hoarsely to the woman.

"How are you feeling?" She asked, clearly trying to calm her down.

"My stomach hurts and I don't know why I'm tied up like a crazy person." Angela said.

"What do you remember?" Josephine asked as she typed something in her Omni-Tool.

"We were having lunch." Angela said and began to turn beet red. "I had to borrow Melissa's uniform."

"Yeah, we all thought it was kind of odd." Josephine said, smiling. "Especially when some of the others were treating you like brass." To which Angela flashed a scowl at her. "Hey I get it, I get it. No love lost on the Alliance."

"Anyway, something happened and I ended up on the floor." Angela said, looking down at her stomach. "I...I think someone shot me."

"Yeah, but that wasn't it." Josephine said. "Something weird happened when you woke up, you put Dr. Miller in the hospital and it took both Jack and Dr. T'Soni to restrain you."

"I what?" Angela said, clearly shocked at this. Dr. Miller was a professional and always treated her with respect. Angela looked to the doorway to see her mom and Jack enter the room, her mom's eyes looked a little red. Was she crying? In all her life, she never seen her mom cry once.

"Josephine, you can go now. I got this." Jack said as she took a seat by the door, but something was off about her. Like something had changed.

"Sunshine, we need to talk." Ashley said as she sat down on a chair beside her bed.

"Oh, so its Sunshine now? Captain Williams." Angela said, clearly trying to dodge the subject.

"Look, I know I haven't been around as often as I would like. But you know how it is." Ashley said, trying to talk to her daughter.

"It doesn't have to be. You could resign your commission and take me out of here. We could move far away, like Vancouver." Angela said, staring at her mom.

"Angela, you know that is not possible. At least not now." Ashley said.

"Yeah." Angela snorted. "Can't let your little freak-show out in public. Besides, your precious Alliance needs you. You never know when they'll need a martyr...again." Angela finished and turned away, staring at the far wall.

* * *

Andriis looked at the room that he had been moved to, a decent sized bed with a desk and a few other amenities. The room had a large mirror on the one wall which seemed peculiar, and he also noticed a terminal at said desk. Sitting down on the chair, he pushed a few buttons until the screen came to life. "Never expose your knowledge to a Hiigaran mind." He said as he stared at text, and began deciphering the information based on the language and the pictures he began to get a grasp of this people's language.

On the other side of the two-way mirror Liara and a few others were watching. "That was an inspired idea Dr. T'Soni, with any luck we'll be able to communicate with ET in a couple of months." One of the techs said.

"ET?" Liara asked.

"Sorry, its..." He began but was cut off by the Asari.

"I know what was meant by it. He is not some specimen to be studied, but another sapient being. Once we can understand each other, I will see to it that we return him to his people." Liara said, as she left the room and let the lab techs work at it.

The next morning, Liara entered the room to see the boy sitting at the desk and eating the breakfast that was given him. "Good...morniiing. Doctor TeeSoni." The boy said to her in his accent.

"By the Goddess! You can understand our language?" Liara said almost falling backwards in shock.

The boy looked at her for a moment in confusion before speaking up again. "I...learn your talk. Not best. But works." He said, trying his best to convey his meaning.

Although he had not mastered the language, she was amazed at how fast he had picked it up in a single night. She began to wonder if he was an exception to his people or if this was the norm.

"I'm Sorry." He said.

"Why?" Liara said, electing for simple words to make things easier.

"I make harm in peace." The boy said, trying to explain.

"Its okay." She said to him.

He looked at her, his brow furrowed and spoke. "No, did...isaar...shame to Kiith S'jet."

"I'm sorry, what is a Kiith?" Liara asked.

The boys pressed some buttons on the screen to a generic family photo. "Kiith." He said, pointing to the picture while holding his arms out wide.

Liara crinkled her nose for a moment until she got his meaning. "Kiith means family? Big Family?" She asked.

The boy nodded his head and pointed to himself. "S'jet." He then pushed a few more buttons and another image of a planet came into view. "Hiigara...S'jet, Naabal, Soban, Manaan, Somtaaw, LiirHra, Paktu." He said, finishing off his list.

Liara was fascinated by this, as she got her first glimpse into the boy's culture. They apparently still had family clans of sorts and went by those names, like the Krogan. There also seemed to be some sort of honour culture involved as well but not violent, in fact, contrary to violent.

"Now," Liara said, looking at the boy as she reached over and types something on the screen that pulled up a map of the Galaxy. "Can you tell me where your home is?"

"No." The boy said.

"I see." Liara said, somewhat disappointed.

Andriis looked at the alien, he was playing a fine line. Providing little bits of information in exchange for information, but on the other hand gathering far more information than he was giving away. So far it seemed to be working. He had just told the female the name of his homeworld along with the names of the major Kiith and the alphabet of galactic standard.

With any luck, he could get more. This console that he had access to was a treasure trove of information, and all he had to do was be patient with learning the language and he could find out so much. He already knew the names of every major species in this galaxy along with the rough locations of key planets. He had so much more to learn, but that was part of the challenge.

* * *

Hiirel was going over his reports when the heard the alarms for general quarters. "What the Hell." He muttered as he got up from his desk and headed down the corridor and up to the bridge. "Status report!" He barked.

"Soban's Shield has been engaged by unknown hostile. Similar size but different profile to the first contact we had." The young officer said.

"Tactical, where is my bomber patrol?" Hiirel asked.

"Almost back at the carrier." Came the reply.

For once things were going well for them as he looked at the screen. The patrol was headed out on vector 315 and Soban's Shield was on vector 170. They would now have far less distance to cover to offer support. "Get those bombers over to Soban's Shield and take out the hostile. Get me connected with Soban's Shield."

"Captain, we could really use your help." The woman said, as was heard in her nervous laughter.

"On the way, Commander. What happened?" Hiirel asked the frigate's captain.

"They got the jump on us, a small capital ship of sorts with one heck of a punch. They haven't broken our hide yet, but flak only gets you so far." She said, with the sound of an impact in the background.

"Don't worry, the can openers are on the way." Hiirel said as he took his seat.

"When we get out of this, I'm buying." The frigate's CO said and cut the comm link.

Hiirel watched his screen with intent. The constant pinging was telling him one of his ships were under attack, along with the red circle that kept pinging around the ship in question. His focus then shifted to the green dots moving across his screen like a swarm of angry bees as they converged on the target.

In the background he could hear the chatter of the ships as the interceptors and bombers closed in on the attacking vessel. Moments later, he was rewarded with a satisfying flash at the sensors manager and the red dot winked out of existence.

"Tactical, have the fighters escort Soban's Shield back to the carrier. I want the squadron leaders to meet in the ready room as soon as they are on board." Hiirel said, as the wheels began turning in his head. At this point, these people have jumped his capital ships at every turn and yet the bombers were able to take them out with relative ease. Why?

"See? This is why this is my favorite kind of mission!" Kira said, as she watched the secondary fires burning on the gutted Batarian cruiser.

"I want to know who sends out a capital ship with no escort." Jona said, asking the question everyone else was thinking.

"Maybe they thought that pulsar tech could ward off strike craft?" Telkas suggested.

"Come on Iron, that was pretty weak. I mean all they really did was scorch the plating on a few two-ones." Kira responded in contempt.

"Shit I don't know Sparks, perhaps their fighters are not that well armored." Telkas said in defense. "I mean look at it." He said, as the trio of scouts flew over the wreak doing a few scans to gather data.

"Speaking of which, I'm getting a strange reading from the aft of the ship. Perhaps from engineering." Jona said, always one to do his job.

"Define strange." Telkas said, his curiosity being piqued.

"Well, I can't tag it to any element in the table. To be honest, unless we get people down there to collect a sample, I have no idea what it is." Jona said, as he was crunching the data.

"Okay, I'll put this in my report. Sparks, I want you to tag it with you're limpet beacon. We'll let fleet intelligence decide what they want to do with it." Telkas said as they peeled off to join the other fighters escorting Soban's Shield back to the carrier.

"Hey Iron, you think I should leave a note saying, 'next time use armor plate.'" Kira asked.

"Damn Sparks, that's cold. Even for you. We just sent a ship of people to their graves." Jona said, not caring for the joke.

"They had it coming." Kira dismissed.

"Still, they're dead. Maybe we should show a little respect." Jona said.

"Whose side are you on LiirHra?" Kira asked.

"Enough you two. Radar is right, let's just hope they found it to whatever afterlife their people believe in. Sparks, keep the jokes for the living." Telkas said.

As the scouts joined with the fighters, they made their way into the nebula and noticed the additional targets on the sensors. "Looks like the minefield is coming along nicely." Radar commented.

" I hear that, hate to come out of the fog and see that staring me in the face." Telkas said as they maneuvered for their approach into the carrier.

Hiirel walked into the ready room and the people seated in their chairs rose to attention as he walked to the front. "Okay, enough with the pleasantries. Whoever we are facing seems to be jumping us at every turn, I want ideas. How are they doing this and what do we do about it."

"Well, I think that theory on heat emissions is sound. We never really used it due to optics being a far superior targeting system. I think our best defense is to not let them get close." One officer suggested.

"How do we do that?" The captain asked, but knew where this was probably going.

"Fighter screens. It seems these people lack anything significant strike craft capability and rely on larger vessels." He continued.

"May I remind you, Lieutenant, that the backbone of our own navy is the frigate line?" Hiirel said to him.

"Backbone, yes, but not the only thing. This enemy seems to be top-heavy. They use fast ships with long-range gunnery. If we keep our heavy assets back and attack with masses of strike craft I think we can even things out. I'd hate to say this sir, but fight like the Vaygr." He finished.

This caused murmuring among the officers at such a radical idea, but it might just work.

"Okay, that's a suggestion I like to hear. We need to think outside of the box." Hiirel said. "Can anyone tell me about this ship that we just fought?"

"It seems highly susceptible to our plasma bomb technology." Another said.

"How so?" Hiirel was intrigued at this information. "It seems they have an advanced form of our defense field technology. Our mass drivers did not damage to the ship at all, but after the first pass, our bombs went right through. We have confirmed that they are very thinly armored. Once our bombs were able to bypass their defence technology, we were punching through immediately."

"Very good." Hiirel said, thinking about that. So the armor is just a last line of defense and not a mainstay.

"Their is one more matter to attend to, sir." Talkas said, speaking up. "On our patrol, we noticed this in the night sky. That distant star cluster...I don't know exactly how to put it. Well, that's our galaxy. This gate jumped us out of our star system."

Hiirel's eyebrows raised at this. Well, that explained why they couldn't raise HIGHCOM on the hyperspace communicator even with a signal boost from a comm probe. It also created problems.

"Well, I never expected to hear that. Don't worry, if we don't provide an update report by the end of the week, then the fleet will send the Gatekeeper to investigate. In the meantime we'll send out patrols and begin mapping out the immediate proximity so we have something to work from."

"Sir, to that end, we tagged the enemy wreckage. It might be worth sending either a team to investigate, or have it towed back to the ship." Telkas suggested.

"Thank-you all for your input. But until we know more, the wreck will stay where it is. For now, we will stick with recon sweeps. Dismissed." Hiirel said to his crew as he adjusted his report. _Sector is confirmed hostile. Recommend a bridgehead and begin patrols once the gate is secure._

* * *

Joker was sitting in his chair as the final repairs to the Normandy were complete. "Gabby, talk to me. We're chomping at the bit, here."

"Hold your horses, Joker. The last of the towing cables are being secured as we speak." The engineer said over the comms.

"What towing cables?" Joker asked as he looked to his first officer, who lurched forward in his seat as if he forgot something and handed the datapad to Joker.

"You've got to be kidding me." Joker groaned.

"Gabby?" Joker asked.

"Yeah Joker." She said, sounding annoyed as the scrape of moving objects could be heard in the background.

"Since when is the Normandy a heavy tug?" Joker said, humiliated at the idea that his baby would be relegated to such a task.

"I don't like it either, Joker. But those are our orders." Gabby said.

"Wait until the captain hears about this." Joker huffed.

"Take it easy, its just a little detour. The brass found it drifting not far from Grissom Academy, its sitting right in a shipping lane. So they asked us if we could tow it to the academy where they'll moor it until a hauler can stop by and pick it up." Gabby said before shutting off the comms.

"I don't like this one bit." Joker muttered as the Normandy left drydock and headed to the co-ordinates they were given.

Snapping into view, the Normandy glided along towards the crippled flak frigate drifting in space. "Joker, what kind of ship did they say it was?"

"Bulk hauler." Joker dismissed.

"I see. So when do bulk haulers have a tonnage like this?" His first officer said.

Joker looked at it and almost spit out his coffee on his console. "That's impossible." He said, staring at the 300 metre ship drifting in space. Clearly, based on the damage it took and the fact it was more or less in one piece it was a military ship.

"Any idea who this ship belongs to?" Joker asked as they approached.

"Hull is too damaged to get markings and the badly damaged aft section won't let us get a profile."

"Well lets get to work before the illegal salvagers get here." Joker said.

"I think someone already salvaged the core. No element zero signatures."

"Remind me to thank them afterwards." Joker said as they got to work deploying the cables.

"Thank them?" The first officer asked.

"Yeah, we don't have to secure a damaged eezo core. Well, lets get to it then." Joker said as the Normandy finished its task and began hauling away the ship.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Octavia was heading to the main auditorium as she was making adjustments to the year's syllabus when she noticed several of her students staring out one of the large windows. Stopping from her work, she looked up too and noticed a Normandy-class vessel towing something. It was a ship of sorts, just as she was wondering what it was doing here her Omni-Tool beeped to show she had a missed message. After reading it, she looked back outside. The MSV Katana? It sure didn't look like a freighter. Yet at this point she didn't really care, her students would get the chance to practice their skills on an actual ship and not just a shuttle. Sure it had taken a beating, but once inside the hangar it would serve its purpose just fine.

Arriving into the classroom after the assembly, Octavia was gathering her notes when she heard one of the students murmur to another. "So did you hear?"

"Yeah, sounds like Angie is gunning for Jack's nickname." Another one commented.

"Okay class, settle down." Octavia began, having heard enough. "Today we got a little gift from the brass. The MSV Katana was found drifting derelict and until someone claims her, we're allowed to poke through it for a little practice."

"Isn't that a little dangerous? Poking around a ship with no reactor control?" One of the students asked.

"Relax Charles, the scanners confirmed that someone hauled off the eezo core and the reactor is colder than a Russian winter." She said, putting her students at ease. "So, let's get to it. Might as well have fun while we can."

Standing in the new hangar bay that was built for servicing the Alliance ships on station, Octavia couldn't help but notice that it was indeed big for a freighter.. She also noticed that the damage was caused by an internal explosion, based on the way the hull was peeled back. Getting closer to the ship, she noticed there was a cannon of sorts attached to the underside. So it was an armed freighter?

As she was about to enter, one of the students had polished some soot off the blackened metal revealing a light blue paint job and weird winged symbol. "Everyone be careful, your lessons still apply and I don't want anyone to get hurt." Octavia yelled.

Octavia looked to the far side of the hangar as she was stepping inside and saw bodybags along the far wall. She just shook her head, this ship must have been their grave. One of the students pushed past her. "Excuse me ma'am."

"Good thinking, Rachel." She said to the redhead who was stringing out electrical cable. Octavia made it to where she expected to find the bridge and fanned out from there and still couldn't find it. "What on earth?" She said as she put her hands on her hips, wondering who came up with this layout. An Omni-Light shined in her face when she recognized one of the students.

"This way, teacher. One of the guys noticed it when he was walking around the outside." The student said, and lead her to the bridge. Octavia looked out one of the massive windows, the bridge was in fact some sort of boom that jutted out of the right side of the ship near the aft section.

Octavia could see that the bridge was a mess, definitely internal failure of some sort. There were seats lining the walls, but the interfaces looked a little odd. She found what she was certain was the captain's chair as well as a four by four empty section with a railing going around it and a large circular disc above it. She noticed that same redhead student was trying to splice some wires together. "Careful Rachel, I don't want you to get hurt."

"Please ma'am, I'm not a freshman." She said, showing the switch that was just downstream of the power cable. "That should do it." She said as she flicked the switch and lights came on in the ship. Sadly the computer interfaces were corrupted as they were streaming unintelligible information. The curious item was the empty space now projected a black wireframe with a blue sphere and a little green dot in the centre.

"All right. The first task of the day, will be to find the ship's data recorder. I do not need to remind you that this is an armed freighter. So be careful what you touch."

* * *

Ashley didn't know what to think, her daughter had said some things that she really didn't think about but now they bothered her. Did she really blame the Alliance for all her troubles? Was she really so upset about her abilities that she would talk like that? She tried to talk to her, but Ashley knew that when Angela shut down like that, no one could talk to her. If she was upset she would talk, but if she was mad then you might as well be talking to a brick wall.

She had other problems at this moment, dealing with Joker whining about having to do a job that he felt was beneath him. "Captain, they used my baby for menial tasks. We don't haul junk, we gut Reapers."

"Well Joker, there is not much Reapers to gut is there, I..." Ashley began when she was cut off again.

"Captain, I have brass on vidcom for you. They say its important." Traynor interrupted.

Ashley left, and decided to swallow her pride without saying a word.

"Captain, glad to see you sorted out your family issues." The admiral stated.

"It was touch and go for a bit, but I think she'll be fine." Ashley said, still hesitant about leaving.

"You worry too much, she'll be fine like she always is. You remember what it was like to be that age." The admiral said.

"With regrets." Ashley said, knowing she had punched a few people when she was going through middle school. The difference being that her daughter could punch people with the force of a freight train.

"Well, something has come up and we need you on the field ASAP." The admiral continued.

"What do you have for me?" Ashley said, really eager to get the transfer now.

"A Batarian cruiser just sent out an SOS."

"So when are we at the beckon call of the Hegemony?" Ashley asked, she was having her time with her daughter cut short for some blinks?

"Since that ship fired off a beacon near the Pylos Nebula. Get out there and find out what is going on. Since you've have the file, I know you'll be more careful this time. Fifth fleet out." With that the message cut.

"I miss Steven Hackett." Ashley grumbled as she headed over to the CIC. "LC Moreau. Best speed to the Pylos Nebula." Ashley said and then stared at the map before sighing. "Okay, here goes round two."

* * *

Angela was being carted around in a wheelchair for the time being by Jack. "I don't think this is necessary, I can easily push myself along."

"Yeah, and I'm the fairy godmother." Jack snorted. "I've gotten knifed in the gut before, there is no way that you're doing much of that. Trust me on that one."

Her stomach still hurt, but she was told that with modern medicine she should be up and mobile in a few days, but it would take a lot longer until she felt like she did.

"So have you figured out what you're going to get?" Jack asked her.

"Huh?" Angela said.

"Your tat." Jack said.

Angela looked back at her mortified. "I'm not getting a tattoo!"

"So you tell me that you just cheated death and you're not going to get a little ink to celebrate?" Jack said.

"Jack, I'm fourteen!" Angela squealed.

"And nothing yet. How about a little boot kicking the grim reaper on your right cheek?" Jack asked.

"If I got a tattoo, why would I get one on my face?" Angela protested.

"I wasn't talking about your face." Jack said, and winked.

"That's gross! Doesn't Miss Sanders say you have to be professional?" Angela asked.

"To make things look good for the chain of command. But as you're not technically in the Ascension Program I can talk as dirty as I want. Besides, I've heard you say words that I haven't even heard of." Jack said, smiling.

Angela folded her arms and made a fake pout. "I will destroy you." She muttered.

"No you won't." Jack said as they turned the corner into Orion Hall..

"Maybe not, but..." Angela began and then saw all the people looking at her and standing in applause. "Check that, I am going to kill you."

Jack just smiled, she hadn't even arranged this. She mentioned to the cook that Angela was coming out of the infirmary an requested that he make a soft meal for her but that was it. Having one of their own almost die had a way of making teenagers get their heads out of their asses and start treating each other with a little decency.

Angela was wheeled to one of the long tables and given a plate of food that she began to wolf down, she was really hungry. "Could someone please pass the water?" Angela rasped as she ate, her throat was still parched from the sedative.

"Sure thing, Angela." Melissa said, bringing the water jug over and sitting down beside her.

"Look, I'm sorry about what we did before." Melissa said.

"Well, I ruined your blues, so I guess we're even." Angela said as she continued to eat, still feeling starved.

"You sure seem hungry." Melissa commented, with no hint of malice in her tone.

"I just can't eat in the infirmary. What happened to that guy?" Angela asked.

"Who?" Angela asked.

"The one who shot me." Angela said, looking up at the other girl.

"Oh, he was actually on his way here when the ship had some mechanical problems. Turns out that he got eezo poisoning which is why he started babbling crazy stuff." Melissa explained.

"What a shame." Angela said.

"What, do you mean...that he's alive?" Melissa said with a shocked expression.

"No, that is was nonsense. I saw his eyes just before I blacked out and those words, 'iivi taliis'. Kind of poetic." Angela said.

"What does it mean?" Melissa asked.

"Why are you asking me?" Angela said, finally pausing with her meal.

"Sorry. Just try not and kill Andrew when you see him, alright?" Melissa said, as she got ready to leave.

"Andrew?" Angela asked.

"Yeah, that's his name. Andrew Smith." Melissa said.

"Oh." Angela said.

"Angie, why are you so interested?" Melissa said, getting a scowl. "Oh come on, I was only kidding."

"Not funny. He shot me, remember?" Angela said defensively.

"You're right, I didn't mean anything by it. Just get better, okay?" Melissa said as she left.

Shortly after finishing up her breakfast, Jack wheeled Angela to the classroom. She realized that she had been dressed in some loose casuals, probably after the operation. She thought it was funny that she didn't think about it until now.

"Okay class where were we?" Jack began teaching the class. "So you're pinned down by two Cerberus Shock Troopers and a Centurion. What do you do?" One of the students raised their hands. "Alex, what do you do?"

"I throw a shockwave at them." She said.

"Really? What do you do about the Centurion's shields that absorbed the attack and left him in the fight?" Jack asked, getting off the desk she was sitting on in the front.

"I um, I have my pistol?" She asked timidly.

"Against a seasoned veteran? He's coming at you, burning round after round into your barrier." Jack said as she approached. "Too late, you're dead and so is your squad." Jack said, slamming her palm on the teenager's desk.

"Sh...Williams, what do you do?" Jack said, making the same movement as she approached Angela sitting near the back. "Singularity followed by a Warp." Angela said almost out of instinct.

"Correct." Jack said and returned to her desk.

"Or you just do what Angie did and use a throw, putting him in the next galaxy." One of the students commented to which Angela bowed her head as if it was a shameful thing.

"Come on guys, lets get back to the lesson. I'm not investing all this effort so you guys can go out there and get hurt." Jack said, looking at Angela and her reaction to people admiring her biotic ability.

The class went on as normal, they went through standard education plans along with ones suited for biotic students to prepare them for service and in Angela's case, the real world. With the class finally dismissed, Jack waited for the rest of the class to filter out and closed the door.

"Angela, I have to ask you. Are you ashamed of who you are?" Jack asked.

"Why wouldn't I be?" She asked, still looking down.

Jack sighed. "Your old man told me once, never be ashamed of who you are. Hold your head high and proud, you are exactly who you need to be and exactly where you need to be."

"Its not that simple." Angela said, looking up as she blinked away the tears. "Look at this?" She said, holding a blue orb on energy in her hand before letting it disappear again. "Is that normal?"

"Since when is normal good? I know you don't want to hear this, but your dad...your dad was far from normal." Jack began. "When everyone else was looking for an angle, he just went out of his way to help people and only because it was the right thing to do. Who does that?" Jack said.

"But he left me!" Angela yelled. She bowed her head again. "He left me."

"Do you know how lucky you are? You were born with these bat-shit crazy biotics and you're not being tortured in some lab for perverted science. Your mom has been trying, do you have any idea how hard it must be for her knowing that this was the only place you could be safely raised? Let's not forget your dad. If he had not done what he did, then no one would be left. You have no idea what he gave up to ensure you grew up in a galaxy that was safe. So you know what? I'm done until you square your shit away." Jack said, storming out of the room. Part of her told her that she did the right thing but it was still tough.

Angela was both shocked and confused. Part of her wanted to tear the room apart and scream that Jack had no right to say what she said. Yet another part of her told her that Jack was right and it was time to stop it. She was not a little girl any more but growing up, it was time to start taking responsibility for her actions and bury the past. He dad was dead, but she still had a mom and so what she was different. People who are different make a difference.

* * *

"All Stations rig for red." Came the call over the PA of the carrier. Hiirel was standing behind the tactical display. "I got you this time, old friend." He said, staring at the blown up composite image of the Normandy. The proximity sensors had done their jobs as the vessel in question was approaching the ship that the Faal-Tiris had taken down.

"Looks like he's investigating his friend's demise." Tamara said, standing at his side.

"Well, if he tries the same stunt he will be in for a rude awakening. Are the ships in position?" Hiirel said, but could in fact see they are but wanted to make sure the XO was clear of the plan.

"Yes they are, and shut down to quick quiet with only life support and flash traffic receiver powered up. This should minimize their heat output. If they do indeed pass the first layer of proximity sensors then they'll power up. The fighters and scouts will give chase and drive him towards the bombers. When the bombers attack, this will leave him nowhere to run except right into our minefield where the pulsar gunships will be waiting."

"Remember, we need intel more than we need a kill. We will disable the ship's engines and have the resource collectors tow it into the frigate hangar bay." Hiirel said, hoping this trap worked. He was no longer the Skaal-Fa but the Skaal-Tel, luring his prey into the cleft of the rocks to be taken back to his den.

"Sir, what if this is interpreted as an act of war?" Tamara asked.

"You mean like how they attacked our frigate? They brought this upon themselves. We will find out who they are, where they are and bring the full weight of the 32nd down on their heads." Hiirel said.

"They're going to send in the fleet?" Tamara asked, clearly surprised at this.

"When they have my report, they will. We will end this war before it gets too bloody. If we strike before they can ready their defences then maybe we can force them to sue for peace." Hiirel said, as he looked at the plan unfolding before him. "That's right, see the scout and follow it into the nebula."

* * *

"Captain, we're coming up on the Batarian cruiser. You might want to come up here." Joker said as the Normandy began approaching the ship. He had the optics magnified and couldn't believe the damage he was seeing, the cruiser was absolutely gutted from stem to stern.

"What do we have Jo..." Ashley began and stared at the image that was being magnified. "That's a little more than a ship in distress."

"You're telling me? Whoever these guys are, they clearly are not aware of the word overkill." Joker said, knowing there would not even be anyone to rescue.

"Do we have any lifepods to pick up?" Ashley asked her helmsman.

"Sorry, but they didn't even get a chance to deploy." Joker said, shaking his head. Humans and Batarians may not have always seen eye to eye but they were still looking at close to 50 KIA.

"How about its black box? Any fix on that?" Ashley asked, knowing Joker was probably way ahead of her.

"I think so, the location for the hardline seems relatively undamaged." Joker said, as he began his approach slowly when he picked something up on the scanner. "Looks like we have company."

"What are we looking at, Joker." Ashley said, getting that feeling in her gut.

"Ship contact of identical profile that the SSV Bagota had picked up." Joker said, magnifying the image.

Ashley admired the image, she was briefed but to see it was another matter entirely. "That thing could probably give the F-61s a run for their money."

Joker knew the captain was a talented ground ops commander and a decent tactician, but when it came to ships, she was out of her element. "If by run for their money, you mean run them over. The only thing the Trident would have going for it would be to out-turn it." Joker said, hoping these things were not too agile.

"Okay, so what is it doing?" Ashley asked her helmsman, she just didn't have much to go off of.

"Nothing, just sitting there on the edge of the nebula." Joker said, looking at his screen.

"Okay, let's see if we can find out what happened to this Hegemony vessel. Keep eyes out on that nebula, if you detect so much as a fart I want us to minimum safe distance." Ashley said, getting more of a feeling of foreboding.

"Okay we're latched. Looks like we got a feed." Joker said, playing the video. In the distance she could see a ship coming into view.

"Joker, run that profile with the freighter we were tasked to tow." Ashley said, feeling something else in her gut.

"Baselines are a match, they're definitely the same ship design."

Ashley watched as she could see the ship firing from its twin turrets the rounds exploding near the Batarian cruiser in a cloud of black. "So it was a military ship and not a freighter."

"Probably trying to keep it away from prying eyes." Joker said to which Ashley nodded in the affirmative. "There's something else, I'm detecting no element zero or kinetic barriers."

"Run that by me again?" Ashley asked.

"That's right, its..." Joker began and stopped as the datafeed showed the Batarians firing a round at the ship. Surprisingly, the round impacted against the hull but the ship was still intact.

"Did that ship just survive an accelerator impact with no form of shielding?" Ashley watched in amazement.

"That's right." Joker said with bewilderment. "Whatever these ships are armoured with, it is sure strong."

"Yet they don't seem to have much punch." Ashley dismissed as the screen showed fighters converging on the cruiser. "These ships look different that the report." Ashley had expected them to be the same as what she had of these people, but these fighters were larger and heavier and based on the blue exhaust trails, were powered by a pair of engines, instead of one. Ashley was surprised when they closed in on the Batarian cruiser and the GARDIAN system failed to destroy a single one. She could see momentary fires on the craft and burn marks as they came closer but the ships remained. "What the hell was that?"

"I don't know. I sure wasn't expecting that." Joker said, slowing down the feed and seeing blue orbs coming from some of the fighters and tearing into the cruiser. When they came back for another pass, firing the blue ordinance the feed went to static.

"I guess that answers what happened to Batarians." Ashley said, thinking of what they should do next.

"I'd say. I vote no on going into a nebula with fighters that can take out a capital ship." Joker said as Ashley was milling it over.

"Capture the data and get to a safe distance. First sign of trouble and we're out of here." Ashley said, clearly nervous. The OPFOR had fighters that could take down a capital ship as well as the ability to withstand GARDIAN defences.


End file.
